


Incredible

by FourFaces



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Child Death, F/M, Horror, Psychological Horror, So much angst, also body horror in later chapters, this one will hurt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-06-04 14:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 26,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6662752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourFaces/pseuds/FourFaces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set between "Winter Forecast" and the current canon. After a tragic car accident, Steven has a terrifying incident in Rose's Room. After seeing that her young master is upset with her attempts to soothe him, Rose's Room turns to ancient gem experiments from before the rebellion, with terrifying results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The alternate title is "This is why 'Clouds' is set AFTER Open Book".
> 
> Also known as "Yes, you can write Connverse horrorangst, but did you ever ask if you should?"

He had been sitting on the bed, trying to hold back tears once again.

They had been the best of friends and he had hoped that one day they could be more. Fusing with her had made him feel like they could maybe be that way one day. Their first, impromptu sleepover had been the last time he had seen her.

Then he found out about the accident.

He hadn't heard from Connie for a few days. When he finally had reached the home phone, Priyanka's shaky voice answering, he learned what had happened.

Connie and Doug, on their way into Beach City, had hit a patch of ice. The car had spun out of control and into a semi-truck.

Doug was in a coma and Connie ...

Steven curled up into a ball, tears streaming down his face. He had gone to the funeral, seeing Connie's face one more time at the viewing. He couldn't believe she was gone. He couldn't even heal her. He hadn't even said goodbye or told her ...

He wanted to see her again so badly. To at least tell her how he had felt about her.

The bright glow of his gem drew his attention. He looked over at the Temple Door and saw his mother's room open up.

He approached, cautiously. He had been leery of his mother's room since the first time he had gone in. He couldn't avoid the pull to enter, however.

As he entered, he looked around at the pink, fluffy clouds.

"Room? I ... I want to see Connie ..."

He watched the room form her in front of him, just as she had been when they first met on the beach. He watched as her hair whipped about in the fake wind in the room.

"C-Connie? I ... I miss you so much ... I don't even know if you knew how I felt about you ... I don't know how much you learned when we were Stevonnie ..."

And they were gone now ... Stevonnie was gone. They would never exist again.

"I ... I want to see your face ..." he whispered. "I want to hear you ... I miss you so much ..."

The Cloud Connie turned around and Steven froze in terror. Her glasses were perched on her face, the reflection of the lenses masking her eyes.

The Room had still created her as a blank canvas. As something that it remembered from before, when it had malfunctioned the last time.

"He was incredible!" the Cloud Connie cheered.

"No ..." Steven whispered.

"He was incredible!"

He backed up. He couldn't believe this. The room still had this Connie in here. Not the one he remembered. The one who was starting to love him back. The one who he had healed once. The one who he fused with.

"He was incredible!"

Tears welled up in his eyes. This had been his one chance to see her again and it was becoming a nightmare.

"No!" Steven cried out. "This isn't what I wanted!"

"He was incredible!"

He began to back out of the room, hearing her voice call after him, repeatedly. Even as the door closed, he could hear her.

"He was incredible!"

The voice faded away as he crumbled before the Temple Door, tears rolling down his face.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose's Room is learning ... unfortunately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short and might go through an edit.
> 
> Thanks for the comments and Kudos, you guys! I'll be posting Chapters 3 and 4 today as well!

The Room was absorbing the new knowledge.

Steven wanted to see Connie, but the Connie she gave him was not what he wanted. She waited for him to return, but could tell, rather quickly, that it would be quite a while.

This was just like when the room had replicated Onyx. Unlike Onyx, this was a human. Not easily put back together.

She began to search through her databases for something, anything that could please her new master. She searched and searched for the desired project in Rose's files and folders

Then she found it.

She just needed a few materials and then her master would be pleased with her again. The project that had been started so long ago would finally be completed.

She just needed to get him to bring her the materials.

When Steven had told Pearl and Garnet what had happened in the room, Garnet had quietly consoled him, warning him to avoid going into the room for a little while. When he had gone to bed, she had pulled Pearl and Amethyst aside.

"I foresee something happening in the room ... I don't understand it, but if Steven goes back in, it will set events into motion that ... that I'm not sure will end positively," she told them.

Amethyst had been the first one to stay on watch, making sure Steven didn't enter the room. She was positive, however, that he wouldn't return to the room after his traumatizing experience. Pearl had been the next, distracting him by attempting to teach him sword fighting again. She was the first to notice that his heart truly wasn't in it, or any of the other activities he had once enjoyed.

Garnet's shifts were quiet as she tried to see what could happen in the future. He would never truly move on. She had known that the moment they had received the news. Fusion with someone you were that close to would do that. She stared at her palms and sighed.

"Steven, let's go to the arcade today," she had stated rather abruptly during her third shift. She had seen a future where they could avoid setting those events into motion, as long as Steven wasn't home.

The boy quietly nodded and took Garnet's hand as they walked out of the door and off to the boardwalk. They hadn't noticed the car that passed them on the Beach Road, nor had the driver noticed them. If Garnet had noticed, she would have seen the driver and found some way to get a message to Pearl and Amethyst to destroy what the driver left on the step for Steven. Instead, the pair walked over to the arcade to have a rematch at Meat Beat Mania.

Meanwhile, Pearl had arrived at the house to see Priyanka standing at the doorway, a small book in her hand.

"Hello, Mrs. Maheswaran," Pearl greeted, somberly. "I don't think Steven is home right now but -"

"Oh, that's alright. I think ... actually, it would be better if I wasn't here to give this to him," she started, handing Pearl the small book. "Connie had this on her dresser ... and I read through it and ... I think he might need this. I didn't realize how much he meant to her ..." Priyanka whispered, dabbing her eyes with her hand.

Pearl's heart broke, watching Priyanka begin to walk down the steps.

"Wait," Pearl called out. "Come on in. I can put on some tea."

Priyanka smiled and nodded, following Pearl inside. Pearl set the book down on the counter and began to heat up the tea kettle after making sure that Priyanka was settled.

~

Garnet was in the middle of a round on the game when she realized that another variable that she had forgotten about had not been accounted for.

She had left the kitchen window open.

She hoped that Pearl had realized and closed it as she started to realize that her efforts might have been in vain. She looked down at Steven, watching as he half-heartedly shook the drumstick maracas. He hadn't even tried during this game and Garnet was starting to run low on quarters.

She stared at the screen. She knew the moves that were coming, but that wasn't going to help him. She sighed and watched the pig on the screen point to the right.

She shook the maracas to the left.

Meanwhile, a gust of wind blew through the beach house, flipping open the small book that sat on the counter. Pearl smiled at Priyanka and stood up, walking to the window to close it.

"Amethyst must have left it open," Pearl chuckled. "I'm amazed Steven hasn't caught a cold."

Priyanka tried to smile before she whispered.

"Doug didn't make it."

Pearl froze.

She was so deeply focused on the woman who began sobbing on the couch that she didn't notice the long, thin strand of hair that had escaped from the book, floating on the breeze over to the temple door.

She did not notice the glow of the pink gem on the Temple Door as it opened, very briefly, to allow the hair into the room.

The Room had sensed that one material that she had needed was nearby.

She just needed the final piece to begin the experiment. That would be much easier to obtain.

~

When Steven and Garnet returned, much later, Priyanka and Pearl had headed away from the house. Garnet bee-lined for the kitchen and immediately checked the journal, flipping through before Steven could see it.

She found a strand of hair and breathed a sigh of relief. She had intercepted just in time.

She brushed the hair into the trash and then turned to Steven, the journal still in her hands.

"I believe this was left for you," she started.

Steven nodded, taking the small book out of Garnet's hands. He opened it and choked back a sob.

"Her journal?" he whispered.

"Yes. Priyanka brought it by," Garnet sighed.

Steven nodded and walked up to his bed, clutching the journal close to his chest. As he read the journal, tears slid down his cheeks. Her entries before meeting him were upsetting.

The entries after felt like a knife to the heart.

_"I met a boy on the beach today. He was incredible ..."_

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events of Jailbreak occur, Steven reads Connie's journal, and the Slinker starts the rest of the domino effect.

The next month was a whirlwind as Steven learned of Homeworld and fought to escape from the Homeworld ship. The pain of losing Connie had been slowly leaving him, having faded enough that he could focus on missions with the gems again. The fear of losing anyone else had spurred him on.

However, as he arrived back on Earth and went for his phone to tell Connie of his adventure, he felt the painful emptiness again. He had momentarily forgotten but was harshly reminded by the out of service message that greeted him when he dialed.

She would have loved hearing about this adventure.

He had gone to bed that night holding Connie's journal close. He had read it so many times but had not read her final entry, not wanting to bring himself to believe it was over.

It had been like this many nights. The gems had noticed him slowly returning to the Steven they remembered, but he was still somewhat withdrawn.

Pearl had invited Priyanka over to the house many times to keep her occupied as well, knowing the pain of losing a loved one. The pair had commiserated over tea and eventually wine over the next few weeks, becoming closer each time. Pearl didn't like to admit it, but she was finally developing a soft spot for a human.

One night, the Temple shook and groaned, waking Steven from his sleep. He got out of bed, walking down the stairs as if he was being pulled. The door to Rose's room slid open and he tried to avoid walking in, but it was as if he was no longer in control.

He saw the clouds open, revealing a crystalline vein that seemed to lead down and away from the room.

He knew where it went and he didn't want to go, but he couldn't avoid the pull.

He was sliding down the vein before he knew it, unable to stop himself as the Temple continued shaking. He watched, horrified, as a dark blue, tentacled creature slid about the Burning Room below him. The bubbled Gems in the air shook as it slinked around.

It knocked one bubble, popping it and sending the pink gem it contained hurtling down to the ground.

Steven knew instantly which gem it was.

The worm.

The worm that had led to him being trapped in a bubble with Connie

It shattered on the ground, shards flying everywhere. Steven landed on the ground, running towards the shard, scooping them up while trying to avoid detection by the monster. He bubbled the shards in his hand and was about to escape when he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye.

He had missed a shard.

He quickly grabbed the shard and was about to bubble it when he heard the creature screech. He yelped and ran back for safety , shard still in his hand He hoped he could climb up the same vein he had come down.

Adrenaline pushed him and before he knew it, he was in the safety of the clouds once again. The clouds closed behind him and he began to head through the clouds, ready to head back to his bed.

In his rush, he had forgotten about the shard in his hands. It slipped out, landing in the clouds.

The Room watched Steven leave.

If she still had a mouth, she would have smiled.

Everything was ready for the experiment to begin.

~

When Steven laid back in the bed, he looked at the journal on his bedside table once more.

His heart ached whenever he looked at it, but he didn't care. He needed to read it once more. It had become a ritual and having had his sleep disturbed led him to pick it up once more.

He opened it and froze.

Somehow, he had opened the journal right to the last day. He stared at the page, eyes refusing to focus at first. He continued to read the first line, over and over.

_"I'm excited to see Steven tomorrow. He doesn't know I'm coming."_

He had, of course, been told that she had died on her way to Beach City. He didn't know it was to see him.

His heart nearly broke from guilt.

It was his fault. Just like with his mother.

He stared at the page. She gushed about her excitement at seeing him. She talked about how much he had changed her life. How much she wanted to share in his adventures some day.

She talked about how much she was sure that she loved him.

_"I still can't believe he's even friends with me. But he is. And I think he loves me too. I want to try fusing again. I feel bad that the last time we did, I panicked. I'm glad he understood though, and I really want to do it again. Maybe we could find some albums and dance on the beach again or in his house. I want to feel that closeness with him again. I love him so much."_

He felt a tear roll down his cheek and wiped it away. He had seen her mention she really liked him before in the journal, even feeling a little guilty after reading the first entry after her eyesight was healed. He had known she wanted to kiss him then, and he had dreamed of it since the day he first really talked to her.

And he never got to.

He held the journal tight, pretending it was her. It was just about all he had left.

He still had the Polaroid he had taken of her once and had a few photos on his phone that were now locked to avoid deletion, but this was her words. Her affirmations.

Her confessions.

As he cried, he hoped that there was an afterlife and that there was a way that he could see her again. He wasn't sure if it would even be possible. He didn't know if he could even die.

He fell asleep, wishing he could see her again. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts and nightmares to notice the soft glow from his gem.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Peridot and Steven deal with the Cluster, Rose's Room has a little surprise for Steven.
> 
> But, even though she could do this, she never asked if she should ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promo comic here - http://auratusuniverse.tumblr.com/post/143455775397/guess-whats-being-posted-in-a-couple-of-minutes

She watched as the gem warped and glowed, taking in the information that was being input. The original personality of the gem would need to be overwritten as well as the original code. Where there would be a hard light body, there needed to be one of mostly flesh and blood. One that was human enough to make her master happy but could still be as durable as he was. The gem would be able to regenerate the body relatively quickly if it needed to. Then her master would never lose her.

Yes. This would work nicely.

The strand of hair was added. Just enough information to create what she needed to. Proteins were synthesized, creating tissue that began to  wrap around the gem. From what she could remember, this was how a human needed to form according to the old experiments.

As long as there were no explosions from incompatibility with the gem this time around, then this experiment would be a success.

The gem would give her life. The gem would make her whole.

The gem would please the Room's master.

She watched as the body formed, bones being covered with muscle and then skin. Organs created that would be constantly replenished by the gem. A Topaz had been the perfect gem to use. They were the poets, the storytellers of the society.

It would be fitting.

At one moment, the Room had a twinge of dread when she noticed an extra appendage begin to form. There was a chance that the gem shard had indeed been tainted with the corruption. She quickly recoded the gem, destroying the body momentarily before allowing it to reform. As long as there wasn't anything that stressed the gem too much, there shouldn't be any more issues like that.

A skeleton formed, glowing organs appearing inside of it. Soon muscles covered the bones, a pair of brown eyes sticking out of the skeleton's eyes. Pink, glowing veins spread through the body before returning to a proper color. dark brown skin covered the body, a slightly inhuman sheen to it before it began to look a little more realistic. Dark brown hair sprouted from her scalp as the face was melded to look more like Connie's. The room remembered what Steven had. She hadn't changed too much since he had first imagined her in the Room. He would be very pleased indeed.

The Room began to oversee the creation of the mind inside of the body. Yes, there was a gem, but she could rewrite any code she wanted to. She had pulled a glimmer of Connie's personality from what she could find when reading Steven's thoughts and memories of Connie's journal. There were only five years available, but that would be alright. Five years was minimal to a gem - what more could it be for a human? She began to encode what she knew into the Gem. The gem would have to be the seat of Connie's soul now. The brain was an added bonus to keep it human.

The gem would keep it alive.

~

When Peridot had joined the Crystal Gems (after betraying Yellow Diamond), Steven was almost back to his normal self. He still mourned Connie on occasion (his birthday had been hollow without her), but he had to focus on saving the world from the Cluster. He vowed to carry on the cause of saving the Earth in her honor.

Peridot only somewhat knew what was going on when Steven would disappear for hours on end, only to return with swollen, red eyes. She understood the feelings of missing someone (she missed her escort, as brash and rude as she was), and she was vaguely aware of the implications of true death. She understood being shattered and re-purposed, but death was an amorphous spectre. One time, she had seen Steven with a picture of a dark skinned girl and learned that this was who he mourned and who he fought for. She had no idea how to comfort him. She just knew that they had to stay focused on destroying the cluster and staying alive.

It wasn't until they had drilled into the Cluster that Steven had started to understand the horrors that gems were capable of.

The cries of pain that had flooded his brain had nearly been too much. Peridot had watched him writhe, feeling the pain that the giant fusion felt. She had only ever seen one other Rose Quartz. Their empathy was an asset on the battlefield since it made them excellent healers.

In this case, it had nearly killed them.

When he blacked out on their way to the surface, she could have sworn she heard him utter the name of the human he had mourned before.

When he awakened, she would have to make sure he was going to be alright.

~

Awareness came slowly.

She didn't remember falling asleep. She only remembered hearing that her dad was going to take her to Beach City in the morning so that she could spend the day with Steven. It was going to be a surprise, and she was excited. She opened her eyes. Everything felt strange.

Everything felt wrong.

She looked around, letting her eyes adjust to the light. The world around her was pink. Too pink to be Beach City. She rose to her feet and took a step forward. She felt as if she was walking on clouds. It was cold. Unbearably so.

She shivered and worked her way through the clouds, trying to find a way out so that she could get her bearings. A bright light drew her attention. She walked towards it.

~

Steven had awakened on the couch, surrounded by the rest of the gems. He slowly sat up, his head still aching.

"Did ... did we stop it?" Steven asked as everyone came back into focus.

"Yes," Pearl started. "And we also separated Lapis and Jasper. You'll be able to talk to Lapis at some point soon ... once you're feeling better."

Steven nodded, weakly.

His gem began to glow brightly.

"Wh-what's going on?" Steven asked.

The gems heard the Temple door slide open. Steven looked past them, wondering why the door would have opened.

No one said a word as they watched a figure begin to stagger out of the bright light of Rose's Room. Garnet removed her visor, her eyes widened in horror. Amethyst stared on while Pearl covered her mouth.

As the figure came into focus, Steven's eyes widened, tears pricking his eyes.

The figure looked up at them, weary and confused.

"St-Steven? Where am I?" She asked.

Steven couldn't believe his eyes. He rose to his feet, pushing past Pearl to approach the figure. He finally found his voice.

"Connie?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie has a realization. The Room might have made a serious mistake ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh Thank you guys so much for the reviews and kudos!
> 
> This is where things are really going to get dark before they get better. No body horror this chapter, but brace yourself for the next one.
> 
> Promo image is here - http://auratusuniverse.tumblr.com/post/143597693482/coming-shortly-chapter-5-of-incredible-so-have-a

Peridot watched as the gems wrapped a blanket around the human that had just emerged from the Temple door. She tilted her head, perplexed. She was certain that she had seen a picture of this human before. Steven's reaction confirmed to her that this was Connie, the human who had supposedly died. The analytical part of her mind was excited about this. Obviously, the temple held something that could resurrect humans. How exciting would it be that these Crystal Gems had created something that not even Homeworld would have thought of?

A quiet part of her mind was unnerved, however. She could sense something off about this human. Something familiar that sent a shiver of fear down her spine.

Something was very wrong about all of this.

The gems guided her to the couch and Steven knelt in front of her. Connie looked down at her feet, still confused and cold.

"Steven, I don't understand. How did I get into your house?" She asked, looking up at him finally. She gasped when she saw tears rolling down Steven's face. "Steven? What's wrong? What happened?"

Steven wiped his eyes and then hugged Connie close, sobbing into her hair. Connie blushed and wrapped her arms around him again, confused.

"H-how is this even possible?" Pearl whispered to Garnet.

"The Room. But I don't know how ... There's no way ..." Garnet stammered. "I checked. There is no way this could have happened."

As Connie and Steven embraced, Connie felt an unfamiliar pain in her forehead. She pulled away from Steven and grasped her head, brushing away her hair. When she ran a hand across her forehead, she froze in terror. Steven gently pulled her hand away and gasped, eyes wide.

"C-Connie?" Steven whispered.

"Is it ...?"

Steven nodded and Connie jumped to her feet and ran into the bathroom, blanket wrapped tightly around her body. Steven tried to go after her but was stopped by Pearl who pulled him into a tight hug.

"What happened?" Steven cried out, hot, angry tears streaming down his face. "Another one of the secrets my mom hid?"

Pearl gently stroked his hair, looking over to Garnet.

"I'll talk to her," Garnet started, sympathetically. "You stay with him."

Pearl nodded and gently hugged Steven close. Peridot and Amethyst looked on in shock.

"So ... What happened?" Peridot asked. "I thought she was dead."

"She was, Peri," Amethyst started. "We saw her body. But somehow it seems that Rose's Room brought her back ... I'm kind of afraid to find out how."

Peridot looked from the direction of the bathroom to Steven before deciding to hop off of her perch and try to find out what was happening in the bathroom.

Connie stared at her face in the mirror. It wasn't right. And it wasn't just the gem.

What happened? Why was she feeling so off.

Who was the green gem that was there?

"Connie?" She heard Garnet's voice outside.

"Y-Yes?" Connie replied.

"May I come in?"

Connie opened the door to let Garnet in. The tall gem ducked as she walked in.

"Connie -"

"Why do I have a gem? What happened? The last thing I remember, I had put down my journal and I was supposed to be seeing Steven the next day! Now I'm somehow in this weird room and then in the Temple ... And I have a gem! And who was that green gem?" Connie cried out.

Garnet stood, awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say. She wasn't good with this and she couldn't see a positive outcome, no matter what she said. Steven's friend, or a facsimile of her, was standing right there, distraught.

And she couldn't say anything.

She simply pulled Connie in for a tight hug. She tried to search all of the possible outcomes.

_Perhaps ..._

_No ..._

The door creaked slightly and Connie and Garnet turned to see Peridot standing in the doorway.

"I ... I was curious," Peridot admitted. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Steven's friend ... I think ... I don't know what happened," Connie whispered. "I don't know why he was sad. I don't even know how I got here."

Peridot tilted her head.

"It is very interesting ... They had said you-"

"Peridot," Garnet gritted out. "Have a little tact."

"What happened to me?" Connie whispered.

Garnet sighed.

"Connie ... you never ... You never made it to Beach City. You and your father were in a terrible accident months ago. You didn't survive. I have a vague idea of how this happened but ... but it shouldn't have."

Connie stared at her feet, processing it.

Months. It had been months. And she was dead.

Knowing her family, her body would have been cremated. That was how they always did it ... That was how her grandmother's remains were handled.

Why was she here?

"Is ... is this a joke?"

"I wish it was," Garnet whispered. "I had seen something like this happening after you died but ... I thought I had stopped it."

Peridot watched, confused. This didn't make any sense with any gem experiments she had known about. There were rumors of experiments having been performed in the early days of Earth's attempted colonization, but the records were lost to time.

"The most I can think of is that Rose had more secrets than we knew of," Garnet sighed. "Somehow, the room resurrected you using the shard of a gem. I'm not sure of the specifics but ... that seems to have been what happened," Garnet finished, looking at Connie.

Connie felt a tear roll down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away.

"So ... I'm dead."

"In a way," Garnet sighed.

"Has Steven ..."

"No. He has been mourning you ever since. I think he always would have ... but ... I don't even know which gem the Room used. There's a chance that the one it used ..." Garnet paused and stared at the gem shard on Connie's forehead. "I recognize that one ... It was intact before ..."

Connie looked in the mirror again and a memory hit her. Her first memory of her friendship with Steven.

She recognized it too.

She collapsed to the floor with a sob, the blanket engulfing her.

"What?" Peridot asked. "What's wrong?"

Garnet sighed and turned to Peridot. She looked at the green gem, sympathetically.

"The Room used a corrupted gem."

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Protip: Don't fuse with corrupted gems or corrupted hybrids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware, there be some body horror here.
> 
> Thank you again for the reviews. Here is where things are going to start going downhill really fast.
> 
> Promo image here - http://auratusuniverse.tumblr.com/post/143641515532/gif-free-promo-post-for-chapter-6-of-incredible
> 
> Promo Gif here - http://auratusuniverse.tumblr.com/post/143659485417/gif-promo-post-for-chapter-6-of-incredible-things

Connie sat on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, a pair of Steven's shorts and one of his shirts hanging off of her thin body. She stared at the tea that Pearl had fixed for her. Steven sat next to her, still in disbelief that she was really right there next to him.

Could she even eat now? How could this have happened? Had she really died? Was she really a gem?

Of course she was. Or at least a hybrid of some sort. She looked over at Steven who sat next to her, eyes downcast.

Was she really Connie?

She had all of her memories, she thought. The more that she thought of them, however, the more she wondered if they were real. If she was really just made in Steven's Room, how could her memories be real?

The worst part was that she only remembered a few years back. She remembered her mother, her father, her grandparents ... Steven.

But if she tried to think back to a time before five years ago, it was gone. Completely gone.

That was enough of an answer for her. She wasn't really Connie. The real Connie was dead. She just had her most recent memories and what she assumed were her most recent emotions.

It hurt her deeply. She looked over at Steven. She knew she felt love for him and that, apparently, he loved her too, but she knew, deep down, that it wasn't her that he loved. She wasn't the Connie he fell in love with. She was just a facsimile. A replacement. She felt horrible, feeling what she did for Steven. She felt as if she didn't deserve it. She didn't really live those memories or feel those emotions - at least not until she came into awareness hours ago. She didn’t think it was fair to her or to Steven. Especially not to Steven.

She stared down at her hand. A slight, pinkish glow emanated from it for a moment before disappearing.

She blinked.

"Connie," Steven started. "I ... I don't know how it happened, and I know it's going to be hard because you can't go back home but ... I'm really happy you're back. I missed you really badly."

Connie smiled at him, weakly. She kept the feeling buried, for now. He didn't need to worry about it. Garnet had not told him what she believed the nature of Connie’s creation was. It was for the best. He wouldn’t be able to handle that right now.

"I'm glad that I'm back ... I didn't even know that it happened. But I'm glad I'm with you again," she smiled, sadly. "I just feel so weird ... I'm missing so much time."

She felt Steven's arms wrap around her.

"I'll be here for you, no matter what," he whispered. "I promise."

Connie smiled weakly. She leaned into the warmth from Steven. She wanted to enjoy this moment. She wanted to believe, right now, that she really was Connie. She wanted to believe that she loved him and he loved her. The feeling was addicting.

She noticed the pink glow coming from their gems too late.

~

Everything felt wrong.

There was something very different about existing now. They couldn't put their finger on it, but something was terribly wrong.

They felt Steven's confusion and Connie's fear. They didn't understand it. They felt something creeping from their head. A sickening sensation.

A touch to their head and they realized the biggest difference.

There was a gem shard embedded in their head.

With a shriek, Stevonnie flew off of the bar stool and landed on the floor. The thump drew the attention of Peridot who emerged from the bathroom. Upon seeing Stevonnie, she squeaked.

"Oh my stars! You fused!" She cried out before the realization hit her. "Oh no! You fused!"

"What ... What's happening?" Stevonnie asked.

"Garnet!" Peridot cried out. "Garnet! They fused!"

Garnet appeared from the Temple Door and ran to them.

"Stevonnie!" Garnet cried out.

Stevonnie looked up at her. Something was wrong. Garnet's image was fading from their sight. The color was draining, save for a red and blue glow that surrounded her.

"Stevonnie! You need to unfuse, now!" Garnet cried out.

They didn't want to split apart. Steven understood now that something was wrong with Connie. He didn't want to lose her again so soon. He hoped that staying fused would keep her with him. That it would fix her.

Connie, however, instinctively knew what was happening and was desperate to separate. She didn't want Steven to corrupt as well. She didn't want any of this. She could feel him tightening his hold on her and fought hard to pull away. The harder he fought, the more it hurt.

Connie's human mind was beginning to shift, her thoughts becoming splintered. Shattered.

Stevonnie no longer had access to Connie's thoughts now. They looked up at Garnet one more time.

POP!

Connie and Steven split apart, Connie curling up in a ball on the floor, wailing in pain. Steven regained his senses and ran to her. He watched, helplessly, as she writhed and screamed on the floor.

"Garnet! What's happening?" Steven cried out.

Garnet was frozen. She watched in terror as Connie started to grasp at the floor, her fingers stretching and lengthening before they melded together. She had seen gems corrupt before and had known that this was a possibility. She had expected Connie to take the original gem's corrupted form, but realized that Connie must have had some control over what she was becoming. As she watched Connie's arms begin to lengthen and flatten, she realized what was happening. Connie was still aware of herself enough to know that she needed to escape. She needed to leave to protect Steven.

The pain was intense. Connie grunted and screamed as she felt her insides tear themselves apart. Her bones crunched as they lengthened, her body stretching and trying to reform itself.

She wondered for a moment if she would die.

She knew that she would not be that lucky.

"Connie!" Steven cried out.

Connie looked over at Steven, a sad expression on her face before her skull seemed to melt. She cried out in pain again, grasping at her head with her useless hands as her teeth began to stretch out from her lips, forming a hard beak. She staggered to her feet and looked at Steven once more. Even with the hawk-like brow, he could still see the sadness on her face.

Then her eyes became completely white.

"Connie! No! Garnet! Do something!" Steven cried out.

She turned away from Steven, stretching her long, thin wings. Flaps of skin stretched from her former fingertips to her sides. She shrieked in pain, trying to fight the primal instincts that were taking over her human mind.

She needed to get away to protect him if she truly loved him.

She staggered to the door. Steven's voice was drowned out by her own thoughts. She needed to flee. To get away from the glow of the gems.

It was the only way to keep them safe.

She got out of the house and took off, barely understanding Steven's cries to her.

~

Steven tried to chase after Connie but was held back by Garnet and Peridot. Tears flooded down his face as he watched her disappear from sight.

"Connie!" he cried out. "Connie! Come back!"

Peridot watched, her heart breaking for Steven as he cried until his voice was hoarse.  She had seen him in his lows before (and Amethyst had told her that he never used to have so many lows), but this was much more distressing.

She had also heard of Corruption. There was no cure, as far as she knew, and on Homeworld, all of the Corrupted gems had been destroyed. The Crystal Gems seemed to think there was a way to heal them, but she didn't have the heart to tell them that even the most advanced scientists had not found a cure.

This is what Connie would be forever.

She watched as Garnet lifted Steven up into her arms to carry him into the Temple. She wanted to follow, but her feet wouldn't let her move.

This was going to delay the talks with Lapis ...

... And Jasper.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yikes.
> 
> And Priyanka appears again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the kudos and reviews!
> 
> Promo image here - http://auratusuniverse.tumblr.com/post/143761758947/yikes-chapter-7-of-incredible-coming-in-about-30

The world was a dull grey. There was nothing of interest below her.

Occasionally, a muddy red or green glow would draw her attention, but she knew that it was just others in the same state as she was.

In pain.

The tiny shred of humanity that was left in her forced her to fly through the night towards a hospital. That was what she could remember it as, at least. That was where her mother had worked.

No. Not her mother. The real Connie's mother.

This facsimile was an abomination.

She couldn't figure out why she still felt a pull to see her one more time.

She had almost missed her, walking out to her car. She watched, heartbroken, as her mother walked slowly to her car. She could feel the sadness.

But only faintly.

She had to remember who she was. She needed to.

Yet, she remembered that she was not really Connie. She was just some recreation of her with a corrupted gem. She didn't even look human anymore. What would her mother think?

What did Steven think?

Had he finally realized that this was not his Connie? That this was some horrible monster that needed to be contained and destroyed?

She didn't realize she had shrieked in pain over the thought.

The next thing she heard was her mother frantically calling Pearl over the phone as she ran the rest of the way to her car.

~

  
They left Steven home  after Pearl got the call from Priyanka . There wasn't any way they were going to take him.

If things did not go well, they did not want him to see them destroy Connie.

Peridot was told to keep watch at the Temple to make sure he didn't try to leave. She sat next to Steven on his bed as he turned on the TV. She watched, sadly, as he looked down at the remote.

"They're doing reruns of Camp Pining Hearts on Channel Seven," Steven started. "If you wanted to watch, that is ..."

Peridot grinned. This would be the perfect thing to distract Steven! There was no way he could stay sad when Camp Pining Hearts was on.

She had turned to talk to Steven at one point when she realized he was gone.

How long had she been watching the show?

She didn't bother to figure it out, leaping up and running out the door of the Beach House. She called out to him but quickly realized that he was too far gone.

The  Crystal Gems were going to  shatter her.

~

He had been running as hard as he could when he heard the familiar roar next to him. He skidded to a stop, seeing Lion run up alongside him. 

Not a word needed to be exchanged. Steven hopped onto Lion's back and held on tight as Lion opened a portal.

Steven knew he had to get to Connie before the gems could do anything seriously damaging to Connie. She was still half human.

He wasn't even sure if she could be poofed and bubbled.

~

She tried not to fight.

She didn't want to fight them. She wanted to stay human. She wanted to still be Connie.

_But you're not her. You were never her. The only things about her that you have are her memories and her_ _shape_ _..._  

She tried to fight the thoughts in her mind, but they continued to invade.

A crack of a whip against her side sparked something deep in her. It pushed away her thoughts of humanity, her thoughts of her mother, and her thoughts of Steven.

It was angry. It was hurt.

It was betrayed.

With a ear-piercing scream, Connie was gone.

All that was left was the  monster.

~

Garnet watched in horror as Connie screeched, lifting herself up into the air. Amethyst cracked her whip, coiling it around her leg, trying to be careful.

"We can't keep fighting like this!" Pearl cried out. "What do we do? I don't want to risk hurting her!"

Garnet stared on.

She had seen all of this. She had known what would happen.

She had even known back before Connie died, but it had been such a small chance. How could she have known that the car would slip on the ice for certain? That it would spin out into the truck? That it would slam back against the wall?

That Steven would lose his best friend?

That this gem experiment  (and thus, Connie) would be resurrected ?

Garnet shook her head, trying to come back to reality. 

She watched as Amethyst leaped onto Connie's back, dragging her down to the ground. She winced, watching the struggle as the corrupted hybrid fought and screeched in pain. She only hoped that Priyanka hadn't figured it out yet.

"Garnet!" Pearl cried out. "We have to do something about her. We can't just try to subdue her. She's only getting stronger !"

Garnet looked at Connie. Amethyst had the flapping creature restrained mostly. It screeched and struggled, trying to break free. She walked over to the creature, slowly. There was a chance that if she did this, there would be no returning for Connie. That she would die. Again.

But that had to be a better than this existence .

She walked over to Connie and placed a gloved hand on the bird-like creature's forehead. It snapped at her hand.

"Connie, I'm so sorry," Garnet whispered, summoning a gauntlet.

As she raised her fist, she heard the familiar cry of Steven behind her.

"Garnet! No! Don't do it!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has a lot of work ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the Kudos and Reviews!
> 
> (Want more Xenofiction with Connie? Want to help me work out future chapters and practice writing a Corrupted Gem character? Follow askhybridconnie on Tumblr and ask some questions!)

Garnet couldn’t move. There was no way that she could do this with Steven behind her She stared down at the monster’s face - at Connie’s face.

There was a chance that they might be able to at least tame her. It was such a minuscule chance that she hadn’t  acknowledged it until now.  She stared at the bristling, corrupted hybrid.

“Garnet! Please!” Steven cried, running over to her. “Don’t hurt her! She isn’t fully gem!”

She looked up at Amethyst who struggled to hold Connie tight in her whip. She couldn’t risk a corrupted gem hurting anyone.

But she also couldn’t risk hurting Steven.

Garnet lowered her fist and looked over to Steven. He looked from Garnet to Connie and then threw his arms around the corrupted hybrid’s neck. Strangely, the hybrid seemed to calm down, guttural chirps escaping her beak.

“Connie … Please remember,” he whispered. “You’re not this thing. You’re my friend. You’re my best friend. I don’t know what happened, but I still want you to be a part of my universe.”

The slam of the car door behind them pulled Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst’s attention back to Priyanka.

“What’s going on?” Priyanka asked. “What is that thing?”

Pearl looked from Garnet back to Priyanka. An unspoken question asked in their eyes.

Garnet had seen the possibilities and nodded, solemnly.

“We … We aren’t sure how it happened,” Pearl started. “The best guess we have is that Rose Quartz’ room somehow got a hold of a gem shard and a tiny amount of DNA and that it tried to recreate a human …”

“Wh-what?” Priyanka asked, shocked. “How could it do such a thing?”

“There were experiments done during the war. Rose had been tasked with a lot of projects before we rebelled. One of them dealt with using the organic forms that inhabited the planet to grow gems. After we rebelled and lost our first human comrade, Rose was beside herself with grief. She had attempted to bring that human, and several others, back using similar technology to our Kindergartens, but the humans would never respond well to the gems. It was a grisly, difficult time and she eventually stopped all attempts at it,” Garnet whispered. “It seems that it worked much better this time.”

Priyanka looked over at Steven who sobbed into the neck of the creature that eyes everyone warily.

“That’s a human?” Priyanka asked.

“Technically a hybrid,” Garnet replied. “But yes, the room took the DNA of a human and combined it with a gem to create her … The gem the room used was corrupted however and something happened to kickstart the corruption process in the new hybrid.”

She didn’t understand why something about the creature that struggled in Steven’s arms seemed to hurt her so much. It was painful to even look at the creature.

She watched as Steven’s shoulders shook violently, the boy sobbing into the creature’s brown, leathery skin.

“Steven seems really upset,” Priyanka whispered.

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl looked to each other. They didn’t know how to tell her or if they even could. How could they tell her that the room had somehow gotten a hold of Connie’s DNA?

“I am so sorry!” a cry came up from down the road. “I didn’t think he was going to trick me!”

The gems and Priyanka whipped around to see Peridot running towards them.

“Is … is it too late? Did you have to force her to retreat into her gem?” Peridot asked.

“No,” Garnet started. “Steven is going to try to tame her.”

Pearl looked to Garnet, eyes wide.

“He did it once with Centipeetle,” Garnet explained. “He’ll be even more successful with her.”

“Hey guys, I don’t think I can hold this whip any longer,” Amethyst grunted. “We need to make a decision on her, now!”

Steven gripped tighter.

“Please … I know you. This isn’t you, Connie,” he whispered. “Please, try to remember!”

He looked into her eyes and noticed them seem to soften. He smiled and wiped away the tears from his eyes before hugging her again.

Priyanka suddenly knew. She didn’t want to believe it, but she knew.

This was her daughter.

Her Connie.

~

The faint pink glow around the child was the only thing that let her know he was a gem.

_How could there possibly be a gem that young?_

The pink glow felt familiar. Instinct told her this was a Rose Quartz. It did not look or sound like a Rose Quartz, but the comforting energy was unmistakable. Perhaps this Rose Quartz could heal her pain.

She couldn’t understand what the Rose Quartz was saying, but the same sound kept coming out.

“Connie …”

The sound was so alien and foreign, but it at the same time, it felt familiar. It was as if there was something deep within her that was trying to get her to understand that one word.

The Red and Blue glow came nearer. A fusion.

Bristling did not scare them away, but the Rose Quartz held tighter.

A strange sensation occurred, suddenly, when they felt a hand on their head. Looking up, they had to focus to even see what was there.

A human.

_Why is a human touching me?_

The human said the same sound that the Rose Quartz had said. It had to be an important sound if it was being repeated so much.

She could feel the human’s emotion and wanted to escape. She did not like that feeling at all. It was painful and seemed to tear her apart inside.

She screeched hoarsely at the human and shrank away, hoping the human would leave. Instead, the human touched her once more. The Rose Quartz repeated the strange sound again.

She wasn’t sure how, but soon, her eyes had begun to close and she felt herself calm down before seeing strange images that made almost no sense.

A human with a Rose Quartz gem embedded in his stomach.

A book in dark brown hands.

The mouth of the strange gem-like human suddenly on hers.

Love.

Pain.

Sadness.

When she opened her eyes again, she was in a strange room with hard floors.

In front of her was the Rose Quartz.

~

Pearl had driven Priyanka home after she had approached Connie and held her until the creature had fallen asleep. She watched the doctor stare out the window, her eyes unfocused.

She had hoped that somehow they could avoid this happening altogether.

It was better that Garnet had not poofed Connie.

“I just … I understand how this even happened,” Priyanka finally whispered. “She was dead. I saw her body.”

Pearl sighed.

“Rose’s Room often replicated whatever Rose wanted. Steven had said he had gone into the Room after Connie’s funeral because he wanted to see her again. The Room had created a Connie that upset him so much that he left the room in grief. The room must have figured that this would be a better way to get her master what he wanted,” Pearl started. “However, I’m not sure how much of Connie really is in there. When she first emerged, she looked and acted exactly like Connie. I’m not sure what started her corruption, but it had to be something serious. Gems don’t corrupt without a catalyst. We know now that the gem the room had used had been one of the corrupted gems we had fought before …”

Pearl trailed off as she looked over to Priyanka again. The doctor was crying openly now. Pearl gently placed a hand on hers and squeezed Priyanka’s hand.

~

Steven watched Connie sleep in the middle of his living room floor. Peridot had sat next to him for much of his vigil but soon retired to the bathroom to think about how she was going to try and convince the gems to talk to Jasper.

Steven, meanwhile, had continued his vigil over Connie. He watched the creature as it slept. He had wanted to hold her and comfort her but he knew that she would respond much as she had before. In fear and in pain.

“Connie?” he whispered. “I … I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were corrupted and I didn’t know this could even happen to you! I feel like this is my fault!”

He watched her rustle slightly before settling again, her back rising and falling as she lay curled up in a ball.

“You wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for me,” he sniffled. “If I hadn’t had us fuse by accident … If I hadn’t wanted to see you so bad …”

_If I hadn’t met you …_

She had died coming to visit him in the first place. If they had never been friends, she would still be alive.

But would she really be happier?

He looked at the sleeping monster. She seemed to have shrank slightly, looking less fearsome and more scared.

He wanted to hold her and tell her he would fix this, even though he didn’t know the first thing about how he would do it.

A rustling sound snapped him out of his reverie as he watched Connie’s eyes open. She looked up at him and shrank back.

“Connie!” Steven smiled, sadly. “You’re awake!”

The creature tilted her head at him. He had hoped to see some sort of recognition in her eyes, but all that was there was confusion. He felt his heart break.

He hadn’t wanted this.

He hadn’t wanted this at all.

He threw his arms around her neck and sobbed into her chest, not caring if she reacted poorly anymore. He just wanted Connie back.

Meanwhile, a strange emotion began to bubble up from inside the creature’s mind. She wasn’t sure what it was yet, but it hurt even worse than the corruption.

She gently rested her head on Steven’s shoulder.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! I forgot to update the fic here!
> 
> I'll be posting up to Chapter 13 today. Chapter 14 is currently in progress.

She was surprised when Garnet let her come with her to the Burning Room to retrieve Lapis and Jasper. The fusion had been silent, walking into the room and reaching up to grab the bubbles that held them. When she handed Peridot Jasper’s bubble, Peridot’s eyes widened. Here was her escort, a quartz who she had harbored some feelings for before, inert and just inches away from her.

“We need to have Steven talk to Lapis,” Garnet started. “I trust you to talk to Jasper.”

Those words rolled around in Peridot’s mind as she stared at the now unbubbled gem that rested on the bathroom floor. She wasn’t sure what the first thing would be that she could say to her.  But Garnet trusted her out of everyone.

Truth be told, she was secretly thrilled, but at the same moment, she was terrified. What would the gem say to her now that she was free of Malachite? That she had been unconscious for days, trapped in her gem?

She left the gem in the bathroom and saw Steven’s corrupted friend sitting, hunched over and looking out the window. She eased her way over and cleared her throat.

“Hello?” She asked in Gem.

The corrupted gem’s crest raised. She turned and looked at Peridot and tilted her head.

“What you?” she hissed back in broken Gem.

Peridot breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank the stars. You can speak gem. At least someone on this planet still does. I’m Peridot … I don’t know if any if my kind existed when your kind was originally brought about. You’re a Topaz, right?”

“Don’t know.”

“Great, great …” Peridot stammered. “Um … ”

What would Steven do?

“So … do you remember anything before …?”

“No. No remember. Just pain,” the hybrid hissed.

Peridot scooted a little closer.

“I’m … sorry,” she started. “Um … Has Steven been able to speak with you yet? I mean, I know he’s been speaking in his human language but -”

“Who Steven?” the hybrid asked, curious.

Peridot could feel her heart shatter.

So this was what corruption did.

This was supposed to be Steven’s best friend. Someone who had had said he had very strong feelings for and now she didn’t even remember him.

“Um … Steven’s the Rose Quartz hybrid. The one who kept Garnet from smashing you,” Peridot started.

“Rose Quartz …” the hybrid hissed to herself. “Steven …”

“Yes!” Peridot cheered.

“No. She Rose! She lead! She heal!”

“Oh shards,” Peridot sighed. “No … Rose isn’t here anymore. That’s her son … Though I’m still not even sure how that’s possible.”

“Son?”

Peridot sat down in front of the hybrid. She would have a lot of explaining to do to try and help Steven with her.

~

Steven awakened to a lilting voice speaking in a language he did not understand. It was answered with a soft hiss in the same language. He rose out of bed, confused, and made his way down the stairs. His eyes widened as he watched Connie and Peridot converse quietly.

He couldn’t believe it!  Connie could speak to Peridot! It was amazing!

He crept down the stairs and sat on the last step, watching the pair converse. He was mystified, hearing the language that must have been Gem for the first time.

Why didn’t anyone else speak it?

Connie’s head whipped around and she looked over at Steven before uttering something that Peridot chuckled nervously at.

Steven stood up and walked over to Connie.

“Hey, Connie,” he started. “Do … do you maybe want to go into town today?”

Connie tilted her head. Peridot hurriedly whispered something in Gem and Connie nodded.

“Great! Um … One sec!”

Connie watched as Steven ran to the closet. He soon returned with a harness and a leash. Peridot shuddered.

“Sorry, Connie … I have to do this because I think the folks in town will be pretty … surprised to see you.”

Connie struggled as Steven began to put the harness on her. After a fight, she was ready to go out on the town.

“Want to come with us, Peri?” Steven asked.

“No,” Peridot sighed. “I need to look after Jasper again … Garnet is counting on me to make sure she’s ok when she reforms.”

Steven nodded and then led Connie out the door. Peridot sighed and returned to her vigil in the bathroom.

~

Nothing felt right.

There was pain and then nothing for a moment. Then memories.

Her mission. An escort mission for the Peridot and the Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli …

An emotion she had never felt flowed through her.

Fear, sadness.

Regret.

She had lost herself in the rage she had felt. In the need for vengeance.

In Malachite.

She could tell that there was room to reform.

But she really didn’t want to anymore.

~

The smells of the ocean made the hybrid hungry as she followed behind Steven. She wasn’t sure why she felt that feeling, not completely aware of her flesh and blood body, but she clacked her beak just the same.

“Oh! You must be hungry!” Steven smiled, leading her towards a building. Connie looked up and noticed the large circle at the top of the building and the strange writing.

Must be a human dwelling, she thought.

“This is the Big Donut. You’ve been here before … just as a human!” Steven attempted, cheerily. As they neared the door, Steven realized that Connie would not necessarily fit through. “Um … I’ll tie you up ot here and bring out a donut for you … I think you liked the ones that had sprinkles on them …”

He smiled sadly after tying Connie to a table and went inside the shop. Connie looked around, curious about her surroundings. Earth was different from what she instinctively remembered but at the same time, it was more familiar. She peered in the window and saw Steven talking with two humans. This was the first piece of evidence for Peridot’s claim that Steven was not Rose. Steven was more amiable than a Rose Quartz would normally ever be with a human.

Perhaps Peridot was right. She watched as he left the building carrying a brown bag.

“Alright! I got us each a donut!” Steven cheered. “Um … I can feed it to you, if you are ok with that. Just … don’t bite off my hands!”

Connie tilted her head and looked at his outstretched hands that held a round circle. She gently picked it up in her mouth and tossed it into the air before catching it.

An explosion of flavor filled her mouth and she trilled excitedly. She wanted more, but didn’t know how to ask him. She watched as he ate his donut slowly and contemplatively. Perhaps she ate it wrong?

Soon they were off again, Steven leading her down the paths between buildings and talking nonstop. She only understood snippets of what he said, gleaning knowledge from repeated words.

Suddenly, Steven stopped and she felt a deep pain from him again. She watched as he stared ahead.

“Let’s … Let’s go back home,” Steven whispered. “I don’t think we should go this way anymore …”

Connie watched as he walked past her and looked down the street. She couldn’t see what had caused the Quartz so much pain but relented and followed him.

When they got home, she watched as Steven climbed up the stairs and sat on his bed. She tilted his head as he reached behind him and pulled a white, paper-like square. His eyes filled with tears as he looked from the square to Connie and back.

What was this thing that was causing him so much pain?

And why did it hurt her so much to see it?

~

Garnet couldn’t see any resolution. She could see that Connie would be tamed. She almost was already. But she couldn’t see any future where Connie would return to normal.

Save for one.

One that was incredibly risky.

She watched Lapis’ gem. No signs of any awareness yet, but she knew that Lapis would be out in a few days.

Jasper would be another story.

She hoped that Peridot would talk with her even before she reformed. Otherwise, there was a chance she could remain inert forever.

~

The entertainment box delivered on its promise, somewhat. Connie was glad to have Peridot there to translate what was happening during the show.

She was glad that there was someone other that Steven that would talk to her.

A dark skinned woman had visited, the same one she remembered from her first real memory, but she was a human and thus barely registered to her. She spent a lot of time with the Pearl anyway, so she did not feel as upset that she didn’t spend all of her time with her. The pain she would sometimes feel from the human also kept her from wanting to be near her.

The Peridot was a breath of fresh air to her. Someone who would sit there and talk with her without any sadness. There had been fear, but that was a manageable feeling. It didn’t hurt her as much as sadness.

Being around Steven was difficult. The sadness ran so deep and made her want to escape, but at the same time, she felt a pull to be around him.

She did not like this feeling at all.

The other gems had rarely spoken with her and she was alright with that.

They did try to force her to retreat.

As she sat with the Peridot, she began to feel the feeling she had before, where her body wanted to slow down and her eyes wanted to close. She started to make her way down the stairs when Steven ushered her back, motioning for her to lay on a soft slab that she had previously been resting against.

“Sleep here on my bed, Connie. Then you aren’t alone,” he smiled sadly.

Connie tilted her head, but did as he asked, closing her eyes and relaxing on the bed. Soon, she was sound asleep, feeling reality shift around her.

Flashes of light and then the image of a slightly dark skinned man. His mouth was turned up in a smile and he repeated the name that she kept hearing in reference to herself. His eyes had some sort of framed glass on them and he wore a stiff jacket with soft fur on the collar.

She soon realized she was in a moving vehicle with the man.

His face contorted to a look of fear and she turned to see what he was looking at.

Blinding bright lights.

A scream escaped her lips.

“Dad!”

Connie awakened with a start.

She looked around, horrified at the images she had seen. How could they have even been possible? She couldn’t fit into a moving vehicle if she couldn’t have fit into that building easily. And who was that human?

Dad … the word echoed in her mind. It carried pain and regret.

What had happened and why was this so painful?

She looked over at Steven and felt a knot in her chest. She could feel an emotion bubbling up that she didn’t understand. Something that was warm and sad at the same time.

She looked over his head and noticed the paper he had been holding before.

An image was on the paper. Something she wasn’t aware of before.

She leaned in for a closer look and saw the image of a human girl. A smile spread across the girl’s face.

The image hurt to look at. She stared, unaware of the rustling below her.

“Connie?” She looked down and saw Steven blinking awake. “Oh. You saw the picture … That’s you, Connie … That’s what you used to look like. What you’re supposed to look like.”

A glimpse at the window and Connie had her realization. She shrieked and bolted down the stairs and out the screen door, tumbling over herself to hide underneath the dwelling.

She ignored Steven’s calls for her.

She wasn’t Connie.

She wasn’t that girl.

She was a monster.


	10. Chapter 10

She had been summoned from the bathroom by Steven’s cries. She ran out, concerned for him.

“Steven!” Peridot cried out. “Are you OK?”

Steven slumped to the floor, looking out.

“C-Connie … She … I think I really upset her, Peridot,” he sniffled.

Her heart broke for him. She looked out before sitting down next to Steven.

“What happened?” She asked.

“I … She saw the picture I have of her and I told her it was her and … What if I offended her? What if she never comes back!” Steven cried out.

“She’ll … She’s gotta come back, Steven,” Peridot smiled. “I mean, you’re friends still … even if she is corrupted. She just might have been overwhelmed … I’m almost certain of it.”

Steven nodded sadly and Peridot threw an arm over his shoulder.

“You really care about her, don’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah … I mean, I kind of got to tell her but … I didn’t really. I should have told her sooner, before all of this happened. Before she …”

Steven bit back tears once more.

“That’s why you weren’t as afraid to go down there,” Peridot whispered. “You thought she was gone …”

“Yeah … Humans … They like to think there’s an afterlife. I was kind of hoping I would see her … ”

“Oh Steven …”

“You don’t understand it, Peridot. I … I really cared about her. I loved her and she died. And then she came back and I was so happy! And she’s gone again! This is my fault!” Steven cried out.

“You love everyone though,” Peridot started. “Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Greg, Me … The Cluster …”

“This is different. I thought I would get to spend the rest of my life with her. I mean, it was silly, but I kind of saw us being together into old age. I thought that … that after everything was over I could start a life with her. Then she died. Now she’s this corrupted gem and I can’t help her, Peridot! I don’t know how to help her!”

“… You helped the cluster,” Peridot whispered. “I don’t even know how you did it, but you did … You can help her too, Steven. If you love her, you can help her.”

Steven nodded.

He did love her. He always would.

He would look for her in the morning and try to work with her again.

“Oh, and Steven? Just a suggestion … Try not to feel too sad around her. She can feel it,” Peridot stated as she rose to her feet.

“What?”

“She told me she can feel your sadness. I think it’s been overwhelming her,” Peridot sighed. “I know it will be hard, but I think it will work out better in the long run.”

Steven nodded.

“Are you going to try to talk to Jasper?”

“Yeah,” Peridot whispered. “I mean, she should be able to hear me … I hope she can. She hasn’t reformed and I don’t know why … Quartz gems never take this long.”

Steven hugged Peridot tight.

“She’ll come back. I know it.”

Peridot nodded and headed toward the bathroom.

“Connie will come back too, Steven. You just have to help push her along.”

Steven nodded in response and climbed back up the stairs. He looked at Connie’s picture once more before falling into a restless sleep.

~

He looked around. It was dark and murky. A strange feeling filled him. An uneasiness.

He stepped forward and soon could see a soft, pink glow. He followed it until he saw the source of the glow.

“Connie?” he whispered.

She was still as a statue, completely unresponsive. Black tendrils of smoke ran up from her feet, covering every inch of her body. They snaked up to her face, slowly taking her over.

“Connie!” he cried out.

No response.

“Connie! Whatever this is, you need to fight it! It isn’t you!” He cried out.

Still no response.

Steven reached out and tried to pry the tendrils of smoke off of her, but each one he grabbed solidified and tightened its grip around her. He was helpless.

“Connie! Please! You need to fight this!” He cried out.

Her eyes flung open, pupil-less and glassy. Steven recoiled in horror.

“No! Connie!”

The dark tendrils began to cover her face, the bright glow slowly being snuffed out.

Soon, only a pinprick of light illuminated the murkiness. Steven struggled to get back to Connie. He needed to try and help her. To tell her.

It might be what would save her.

As he got closer, he noticed the tendrils were now working their way towards him.

He had to wake up or they would both be corrupted.

~

Lapis awakened to see Garnet’s concerned face. She recoiled.

“You!” She gasped.

“Hey, hey … It’s alright. You’re free,” Garnet started. “Steven is outside in his room. He would have been here but things have been … complicated. How are you feeling?”

Lapis looked at Garnet, rearranging herself to sit in on her haunches.

“Tired. But alright. Where’s Jasper?”

“She’s in Steven’s Bathroom. Still inert. Peridot is watching her now.”

Lapis blinked.

“What?”

“Peridot is one of us now. Called Yellow Diamond a clod.”

Lapis snorted.

“And Steven?”

Garnet removed her visor.

“His friend … something happened with her. An old Gem experiment. Parts of it are similar to Rose’s experiments with Gem and human hybrids … from during the war,” she began. “She’s been corrupted.”

Lapis looked past Garnet to the Temple door.

“You won’t be able to open it. You don’t have permissions to do so. And I’m not going to put you into a mirror.”

Lapis glared.

“Steven should be happy to see you,” Garnet smiled. “As long as … Hmm … Maybe we should wait.” She said after a pause.

Lapis watched as Garnet rose and started towards the Temple Door.

“What? Are you just going to leave me here?” Lapis asked.

“You won’t do anything. You can’t control Lava.”

With that, Garnet headed out into Steven’s Room. She saw that the door to the Beach House was wide open and went to close it when she saw Steven leaning over the railing.

“Come on, Connie … I’m …I’m sorry,” he coaxed. Let’s try this again. I still want to be friends.“

Garnet sighed. She had predicted this, of course.

"You should go down to her,” she smiled behind him. “Get down on her level, like you did with Centipeetle.”

Steven nodded.

“Oh, Garnet? Do you still know any words in the Gem language? She seems to understand when Peridot speaks it, but … I don’t want to go through her all the time. I want to be able to tell her things.”

Garnet smiled.

“I’m sure I remember a few words.”

Steven smiled and hugged Garnet tight.

Garnet simply smiled proudly. A trickle in the river of fate was beginning to flow stronger.

~

She heard the footfalls first and curled up tighter. She didn’t need anyone to approach her right now.

Especially not him.

She could feel the warm presence of a Rose Quartz but curled in even tighter, fighting the instinct to go towards the gem. She couldn’t face the Rose Quartz.

Then she heard a voice ask, uncertain and shaky, “Hello?”

She recognized the voice. It was the Rose Quartz … the Steven.

But she was speaking in Gem.

She looked up and saw the gem hybrid’s sad smile.

“Hey. I’m sorry.”

She felt a pang of grief in her heart.

“Not fault,” she hissed.

She watched the Rose Quartz hybrid’s eyes dart to the side before she spoke.

“I made you sad. I don’t want you to be sad. I want to be friends,” the hybrid smiled, slowly making sure each word was correct.

The hybrid gently reached towards her and stroked the corrupted gem’s crest. They stayed that way for a long time before Connie spoke again.

“It hurts.”

“What? Me touching you?”

“No … Everything else.”

~

Steven was left home when the gems had to travel on missions now. He needed to watch Connie, something that he was more than OK with. Peridot had stayed behind from most of the missions as well, as had Lapis who was now allowed access to Steven’s Room and no where else. Garnet had told Steven to try and watch her as well when he wasn’t busy with Connie.

Lapis had recognized both the gem and the human energy from Connie instantly when she had first emerged from the Burning Room. The feeling of uneasiness that crept down her spine upon looking at the corrupted hybrid had nearly sent her into her gem at first. This was wrong.

Almost as wrong as Malachite.

“Steven, what do you plan on doing with it-her?” she had finally asked after the first day.

“I need to at least tame her … and maybe I can help her fight back against the corruption somehow. I mean, I ended up in her mind, like I did with you and the cluster … and I think I can save her,” Steven stated as he rested with Connie’s head in his lap.

“I hope so,” Lapis stated. “It’s … unnerving that your mother’s room would do something like this.

"Yeah … I know what it was trying to do, but how did it even know how to do it?”

Lapis sighed.

“Your mother … she was in charge of a lot of experiments during the early stages of colonization. Some of those were later applied during the rebellion. Rose Quartz gems often have studies where they can run simulations on their experiments … Rose’s Room wasn’t any different. I’m certain the original plan was to find ways to heal creatures that her tears couldn’t. She never cared as much for gems as she did for organic life …”

That was all Steven had wanted to hear after that. He knew that there was a side to his mother that he didn’t know, but he wanted to keep it that way for now.

It was almost a week later that Lapis was allowed to leave the Beach House, with some supervision. Steven would often sit outside with Connie, trying to speak with her while his dad sat nearby playing on his guitar. Lapis would stare out into the ocean, watching the tides come in.

A part of her wanted to leave, but she knew that there was no where to go.

~

Peridot held Jasper’s gem in her hands and continued whispering to her. She found herself first speaking in the Human language that Steven had been speaking in before she switched back to her native tongue. She felt that would probably be some form of comfort to the Quartz soldier.

“Really, you wouldn’t believe what has happened! I formed an alliance with the Crystal Gems and called Yellow Diamond a clod! Which she is, by the way. She wanted to destroy a planet with amazing resources! Ones we could tap into without harming the ecosystem! And a planet with the greatest entertainment known to any species! Even better than Topaz readings or Lazuli dance recitals! When you come out, I’ll show you Camp Pining Hearts! You’ll love it!”

No response.

“I … I’m sorry … I know that we argued a lot on the way to Earth … and maybe you would have been right about not needing to come but, if you hadn’t … If things hadn’t gone the way they did, the planet would be dead.”

Steven would be dead.

She couldn’t even bear to imagine that again. She thought he had died in the drill at one point and was relieved to feel a weak, thready pulse. Now that she knew he had been so willing to die …

Loss was something that never used to upset the Peridot. She couldn’t be upset by it. She had to move on to the next project constantly. It was what kept her stable.

Yet she had almost lost Steven … and she might be losing Jasper.

She could imagine now how Steven felt about Connie. She didn’t enjoy it at all.

“Jasper … I miss you. You were annoying at times but I did enjoy your company … Please come back … No one is going to hurt you. I’ll even talk to them for you! The Crystal Gems aren’t that bad once you get to know them …”

She sighed and set the gem down again. She turned to leave for the living room.

A soft, orange glow pulled her attention. She stood, transfixed as the gem rose up into the air. She couldn’t tear her eyes away as the quartz reformed and fell to the ground.

“Jasper?” Peridot asked.

The quartz looked up at her and then scooted far back into a corner, curling into a tight ball.

“Stay away …” the quartz growled. “It’s too late …You can’t do anything.”

Peridot tilted her head in confusion.

Then Jasper’s form glitched.

She knew she should have looked at Jasper’s gem more closely. She should have checked for any hairline cracks. But she didn’t.

Then she remembered.

_Steven …_


	11. Chapter 11

He hadn’t expected to ever see Jasper look so frightened, yet here she was, cowering in fear on his bathroom floor.

Her form glitched occasionally before she tried to pull herself together.

“Jasper, please, let me look at you,” Steven started.

“No!” she hissed. “I failed and I deserve this! It would happen to me the moment I arrived on Homeworld anyway!”

“Please, Jasper!” Peridot begged from behind Steven. “He can help you! And we won’t let them take you!”

Jasper curled up tighter. She hissed and tried to keep the others away. She was in so much pain from the spreading cracks in her gem.

“Jasper!” Peridot cried out. “You need to let him heal you! He can do it! He did it for the Lazuli once! He can do it for you and then you’ll be whole again! Then I can show you everything that is worth fighting for on this planet!”

Jasper looked over at Peridot before her form glitched once more. The quartz screamed silently.

“Steven!” Peridot cried. “Please do something!”

Steven nodded and stepped towards Jasper. He watched as she shrank away from him again, trying to avoid him.

“Look. You can do whatever you want after I heal you, but … You need to at least live to have that choice,” Steven sighed. “Peridot trusts you and Garnet didn’t immediately shatter you so there’s still a reason for you to live. But you can only find it out if you let me heal you.

Jasper looked up at him and Steven was suddenly no longer in his bathroom.

He was on the battlefield, Jasper cowering in front of him again as he towered over her.

It was only a flash of a memory, but it was enough to spur Steven into licking his palm and placing it on Jasper’s gem before the quartz could react. Her gem glowed brightly before it patched itself up. She looked up at Steven, confused.

"Why?” she asked.

“You’re worth it,” Steven started.

He turned to look behind him. Peridot was near tears and Lapis grumbled. Behind them sat Connie, her birdlike head tilted curiously.

The thought came to him just then.

If his healing powers finally worked on Jasper, they could work on Connie.

~

Garnet had known Steven would be able to heal Jasper’s gem. She believed he would be able to completely heal her now. She knew that the toxicity of Malachite went both ways in the fusion. She was not surprised to find everyone locked out of the bathroom when she, Amethyst, and Pearl finally warped in. Loud sobs came through the closed door.

“She locked us out,” Steven explained. “She wouldn’t even let Peridot stay in there.”

Garnet smiled sadly.

“She’ll let you in eventually. She just needs time to heal.”

Steven nodded.

“Garnet? Did my mom ever try healing the corrupted gems with her tears?”

“Yes,” Garnet started. “It never worked, but she still tried. Many of those gems were close friends.”

Garnet noticed Steven’s demeanor change as he looked over at Connie who sat curled up around Peridot. The green gem’s shoulders shook with sobs as Connie twittered to her.

“Steven, that doesn’t mean you can’t still heal Connie. At the very least, you can ease her pain. Corruption is very painful and she needs relief from it to even begin healing.”

He looked up at Garnet.

“She said it hurt but I guess i didn’t think to try to use my powers to heal her … I was still convinced my healing powers didn’t work. Peridot just looked so upset and I hated seeing her like that. I didn’t want her to go through what I’m going through.”

“It’s tied to your emotions, Steven.” Garnet smiled.

“Just like all my other stupid powers.”

Garnet ruffled his hair.

“The chances of you healing her are becoming more certain,” she smiled. “Just keep trying.”

With that, Steven ran over to Connie and sat next to her, trying to speak to her once more in Gem. Garnet would chuckle as he used a wrong word or mixed up a sentence, resulting in Connie’s head tilting and Peridot laughing through tears.

This would work. It had to work.

~

She had been wondering where her master was and had hoped to see him soon.

This was why she was surprised when she sensed the Pearl entering from one of the veins of the Crystal Heart.

“Room? I know that you normally only respond to the Rose Quartz gem but I am going to override that command, as the Pearl belonging to Rose Quartz. I need access to the results of all experiments involving human and gem hybrids.”

The Room was still for a moment. Pearl waited and then sighed in exasperation.

“Once more, I am overriding your previous commands. You will give me the results of all experiments involving human and gem hybrids,” Pearl repeated, this time in gem.

The Room would have sighed if she had been able to, but she had no choice but to relent. The Pearl was the only other gem authorized to give commands.

She began to display all of the recordings, beginning with the first attempts at the experiments.

Pearl blanched.

She had wanted to believe that this was Homeworld’s idea. She wanted to believe that it was started in a moment of desperation, if nothing else.

Instead, she watched Rose begin her experimentation as the second-in-command under Pink Diamond.

“Rose Quartz, Facet 1, Cut 5L9. First test in creating organic soldier for use on outer colonies.”

She watched as Rose plunged the injector into a human under the orders of her Diamond.

Pearl listened, sickened, as Rose blandly recorded the effects of the creation of a gem inside of the human.

“The creature is not reacting optimally to the gem.”

Screams of pain.

“Healing tears are not effective.”

Pearl choked back a sob as the human was destroyed.

“First trial unsuccessful. More study on humans is required. They will not be as easy to work with as the creatures in the Pearl Manufacturing colonies.”

She couldn’t look away but she also could not bear to watch as Rose continued her experiments. Slowly, she watched as Rose’s demeanor began to shift with each human. The tough facade was crumbling.

“This is my favorite human,” Rose began, looking over to the eerily familiar, dark-skinned, human female that sat on the table. “I think I have this down finally. We have a new method of combining with human DNA and it seemed to work on the cellular level. Let’s begin.”

Rose turned to the human and gently stroked her hair before injecting her with the glowing liquid. The human flinched but otherwise did not seem to be affected. Pearl watched as the human’s veins glowed brightly for a moment before dimming.

“It seems like the initial response is much more positive,” Rose sighed. “I will update with my results.”

The next recording showed Rose even more haggard and sorrowful.

“I cannot do this anymore.”

Rose didn’t even pan the camera to show the results.

“We are toxic to these creatures and to this planet. I wasn’t even there. I couldn’t even try to comfort her. This experiment is over. This is not the way to do this … to create these hybrids. If I am to be shattered, so be it, but I cannot stand by and let these experiments continue.”

That was enough now for Pearl.

She had wondered why Rose would often come to their chamber at nights looking haggard and upset. She never thought to ask because it didn’t seem like her place.

When Rose had suddenly come to her telling her she was going to rebel, Pearl was shocked but willing to join her.

Now she knew why.

She collapsed to the cloudy floor, weeping.

She couldn’t ever tell Steven.

~

She was confused the first time it happened.

She was sitting with the Steven and Peridot, comforting the green gem, when she felt something on her back. She turned to look at the Steven and saw her - him smile sadly before he gently stroked her cheek.

“I want to try something to heal you,” he explained in broken Gem. “May I?”

Connie blinked and grunted, cautiously.

Soon, the Quartz placed his lips on her gem. Her eyes widened.

Something deep inside reacted strongly. It was as if a part of her had awakened, trying to bubble to the surface.

She was deeply confused and worried by the new emotion. This emotion didn’t seem like it would go away.

She also noticed something different.

The pain of corruption had dulled. She could actually focus on something other than the pain now. She looked up at him.

It made sense that a hybrid wouldn’t use traditional healing tears.

“Thank you,” she hissed in gem.

He smiled and hugged her tightly.

~

When Jasper finally left the bathroom, she tentatively had walked out to find Pearl and Priyanka seated on the couch. She tilted her head, watching the dark-skinned human comfort the weeping Pearl. She felt almost like she was intruding on something important as she watched the pair hold each other close.

It hurt her heart somewhat to watch. Was this because of her? Had she ruined yet something else?

She crept back into the bathroom and sat on the floor again.

Rose - no - Steven had saved her. Once again.

She had remembered a time when Rose could have shattered her, but instead she took pity on her and healed her. She still ran away, back to Homeworld. She did nothing to stop the Corruption bomb. She did nothing to prevent it. When she first saw Steven, she had fallen back on her instincts. She had every intention of taking him to Yellow Diamond and forcing him to stand trial for the crimes against the Empire. She didn’t know he was just a human child. She just saw Rose’s shield.

She had still wanted to destroy him, even as Malachite, fueled with rage.

And Steven still saved her now.

She didn’t deserve it.

She curled up, forgetting that the door was open, and barely registered the soft footsteps of Peridot as she entered the room.

“Jasper?” she whispered.

The Quartz looked up at her.

“Why did he do it?” She asked.

“Because he’s Steven. That’s what Stevens do, apparently,” Peridot smiled. “Steven loves everyone. It’s impossible for him to not care about anyone. Even you.”

Jasper nodded and looked down at her feet.

“Yellow Diamond never sent anyone?”

“No. And I don’t think she will until she realizes that the Cluster never went off.”

Jasper looked at her.

“The Cluster?”

“Yeah. An experimental, fusion based geo-weapon. It was supposed to destroy the planet.”

Jasper paled.

“Fusion based? What? I knew you had some stupid project but I didn’t know that’s what it was! Were they volunteers?”

“Erm, no,” Peridot started. “Garnet believes they were former Crystal Gems -”

Jasper slammed a fist down on the ground, shattering the tile.

“No!” Jasper hissed. “Yellow Diamond wouldn’t do something so … so dishonorable! Yes, they were enemies, but you destroy the gem properly! Or harvest them! There is no way that they would have agreed to destroy the planet they fought to protect!”

Peridot watched as Jasper curled away from her.

“Go,” Jasper finally hissed. “I … I need to be alone. I don’t understand why Yellow Diamond would do this.”

“I didn’t either,” Peridot whispered. “But she did and I was following orders until Steven showed me that this planet was in fact important … that the life here was important too …”

Jasper did not respond. Peridot scooted next to her and mimicked what she had seen Steven do so many times.

She wrapped her arms around her and hugged her gently, bracing for the Quartz to push her away.

Instead, Jasper wept.

~

She had relived more strange memories every since the Steven pressed his lips to her gem (an action that Peridot excitedly called “kissing”). He had done it many times since then, whenever Connie would hiss in pain or start to become more erratic in her behavior.

Sometimes, he didn’t wait for one of those moments to do it.

Connie found herself looking forward to those moments. She didn’t know why, other than the healing sensations that it gave, but it became the highlight of her days. She was comfortable now resting at the foot of Steven’s bed, occasionally finding herself curled up closer to him when she awakened. She at first would startle, seeing that she had somehow gotten closer to Steven, but eventually she found herself enjoying it.

She also found herself having random snippets of memories enter her mind in no particular order.

A memory of sitting on a hill with him, comforting him as he wept.

A memory of standing in front of a tower or water with Steven at her side.

A memory of watching the snow fall.

She felt both pain and happiness at the memories and would often rest her head on his shoulder and beg for another kiss on her gem after those moments. The kisses helped with the physical feelings, even if they made the emotions stronger.

Perhaps, she had often thought, those emotions will be what cures it.

Steven often took her out onto the beach and just sat with her, enjoying the view. She wasn’t sure why, necessarily, but she enjoyed being close to him now. The sadness that he had felt so often was disappearing. She was happy for that, for sure.

One day, Steven finally took her out towards the city again, this time without a harness. She looked around curiously but kept her focus on Steven. She had to follow him in this unfamiliar area.

She hadn’t become familiar with reading the human language, but she watched as Steven turned to her with a smile, taking her down a street with buildings on either side. He turned his head and looked at one building, freezing in place. She could feel the sadness explode from him, sending pain straight to her heart. She looked around, wondering what could have caused this pain.

Her gaze turned to the sign that he saw and she found she could suddenly understand what the sign said.

Danny’s.

The memories came back unabated now.

A boy, Steven, riding atop a vehicle. A bracelet falling from her arm as she left.

Sitting at the bottom of the ocean, Steven kneeling in front of her with the glowing bracelet.

A journal opened up as she wrote about the strange boy on the beach, her thin, brown hand holding the pen with shaky excitement.

A movie with Steven. He had just told her Dogcopter was important to him. That the human things were important to him.

She was important to him.

Fireworks. Bike rides. Reading books.

Catching a small, shelled animal and showing it to him.

Wanting to kiss his tears away as he wept over not being able to heal.

Suddenly being able to see.

Thinking she would lose him forever.

Becoming one with him on a beach and dancing the night away.

Sitting in front of the window and watching the snow fall.

Going to visit him when the truck -

She knew now. She truly knew and remembered. She wasn’t supposed to be this monster. Even though Steven’s kisses had healed the physical pain, they weren’t returning her to her proper form.

She watched as he turned around, sadness flashing on his face before he tried to hide it.

She caused this.

By having been killed. By existing.

She had hurt him and she was still a monster, no matter what.

She didn’t say a word as she took to the sky and blocked out Steven’s cries from below.


	12. Chapter 12

He couldn’t resist Garnet when she lifted him up onto her hair and carried him back to the Warp Pad. He was too tired now. It had been several days and there was still no sign of Connie. He sniffled but lay limp on Garnet’s hair.

Garnet sighed, pulling him down and holding him close as they warped. He seemed to be both eight and eighty in a single moment. This was too much for the young demi-gem to handle.

“I don’t want to stop looking for her, Garnet,” he mumbled. “She could get hurt. I don’t think she can retreat into her gem and regenerate …  It’s all my fault. I messed up.”

Garnet sighed and hugged him tight as they warped back to the Temple. She, Pearl, and Amethyst could continue the search while Steven slept.  Peridot and Lapis could watch the house (and Garnet was certain, anyway, that they would not find Connie tonight). She gently carried Steven up to his bed and laid him down. Peridot walked out of the bathroom to see Garnet approaching the Warp Pad again.

“I’m guessing you couldn’t find her?”

“No. I’m not certain she wants to be found yet. She will, eventually,” Garnet sighed. “I’m just not sure in what condition.”

Peridot nodded.

“Want me to keep an eye on him?”

“Please. Don’t let him leave. He needs to sleep.”

Peridot nodded resolutely as Garnet warped away. She plopped herself down next to the Warp Pad and stared up at the loft.

Steven was not going to leave as long as she could help it.

The door to the bathroom creaked open, perking up the green gem. She turned and watched as Jasper shuffled out towards her. Peridot smiled and scooted over to give the quartz some room to sit.

“So … Is everyone gone?” Jasper asked.

“Steven is up in his bedroom, sleeping. Lapis is on the roof and the rest of the gems are out looking for Steven’s friend,” Peridot explained.

“The corrupted Topaz?”

“Yeah … though, she’s a hybrid as well.”

Jasper tilted her head.

“Gem experiment … kind of.”

“Ah.”

“Steven loved this one human and she died. Somehow his mother’s room brought her back to life. It seemed fine until he fused with her and then she corrupted. It’s been terrible, Jasper. I had never actually seen the effects of corruption until now and … I didn’t realize how horrible it was. Watching her form twist while she screamed in pain … It had to be because she’s half human … That had to be the reason it hurt so badly, right? I mean, we can feel pain but she’s been in pain ever since … She told me …” Peridot sniffled. “I’m so worried that the emotional pain is going to corrupt Steven as well.”

“It won’t,” Jasper sighed. “Luckily, corruption isn’t that easy to cause. But once a gem is corrupted, it’s hard to heal it … Most of the gems that were corrupted during experimentation were re-purposed. I was never happy about that but I was also young and loyal. I thought the diamonds were infallible. But the Cluster … how could you force all of those gems to fuse …”

“I didn’t think of who they were until I spoke with Garnet. I had always been told that this was a new purpose  for loyal gems … they just didn’t tell me who they were loyal to,” Peridot sighed. “If I could take back everything, I would …”

The pair sat in silence for a moment. Jasper shifted and soon her hand found Peridot’s.

“We really got ourselves into a lot of trouble, didn’t we,” the quartz laughed bitterly.

“Yeah. It’s been a wild few months … I don’t think I would change it though. If I had never known what I do now, I don’t think I would be as happy, even with all of the trouble it’s caused.”

Jasper smirked.

“I know now that fusion is more than a cheap trick … and definitely it’s not something to be messed with,” her expression darkened. “I don’t think I want to try it ever again.”

Peridot looked at the orange gem. She could nearly see the memories, the pain in her eyes. She squeezed the quartz’s hand, gently.

“Have you ever felt so lost?” Jasper whispered. “I completely lost who I was. What my purpose was. All that I was became a rage. A vengeance for those who I lost thousands of years ago. Who even knows what happened to their shards? They obviously weren’t used for the Cluster. Were they just abandoned? Left to search for the rest of themselves? Left alone to wander? My entire battalion was destroyed around me. I was the only one to be retrieved. They almost did to me what they did to Lapis. I never even knew … And I was so consumed with the anger I felt when I saw that shield on that beach … All I could think of was revenge. I let this happen. I let all of this happen.”

Peridot watched as the quartz wiped a tear away with her free hand.

“Not everything, Jasper. It took two to create Malachite. You both were hurting. You just need time to heal, if the Crystal Gems have taught me anything. Maybe … Maybe that’s something we can work on, together. I know I need to heal from my involvement with that … experiment. If I had known who they had used, I might have tried to reason with Yellow Diamond sooner. I didn’t know it was former Crystal Gems. I didn’t realize that it was essentially torture. I thought they were just shards. I barely knew anything of the war on this planet. Now that I know more …”

A soft groan from Steven’s bedroom alerted Peridot.

“Oh no …” she whispered. “He’s … he’s doing it again! Like in the drill!”

“What?” Jasper whispered.

“He … he started having something happen in the drill and he passed out from it … He had said something about talking to the Cluster … and he was mumbling … He’s doing it again! I need to make sure he’s ok!”

With that, Peridot leaped up and ran up the stairs to Steven’s bed. Jasper stared after her before looking at her hand.

Peridot trusted her.

If only she trusted herself.

~

He had been having a dream about having her close by again. Telling her that he loved her, no matter what, and that he wanted to be by her side forever.

She had left for a moment and he waited for her before deciding he would try to find her.

His blood ran cold when he saw the black tendrils snaking towards him. He wanted to wake up and get away, but he knew that this would be the easiest way to find Connie.

Even if it meant he could get corrupted too.

He followed the tendrils to the soft pink glow of Connie’s gem. She was somewhat uncovered by the black tendrils of smoke, her face no longer obscured. She was conscious but refused to meet his gaze.

“Connie?” he asked.

No response.

“Please, just let me know where you are. I want to find you!”

“No you don’t,” she finally hissed out. “Leave.”

Steven was taken aback.

“C-Connie? I don’t understand -”

“I’m dangerous. Get away.”

He watched as she seemed to recoil away from him, trying to disappear into the murky darkness.

“No! I can’t let you leave me!”

“I’m not even supposed to exist. I am an abomination.”

Steven felt his heart nearly shatter at this.

“N-no! You’re not! You’re still my best friend! I want you to be part of my universe, Connie! Please come back!”

She did not respond. She simply disappeared.

“Connie? Connie!” Steven cried out.

The darkness nearly overtook him before he woke up in a cold sweat, Peridot staring at him with concern.

“Steven! Are you alright?” She asked, worried.

“Yeah … yeah. I found her. I think. But she doesn’t want me to find her. I don’t understand,” he whimpered.

Peridot sat on the bed and pondered for a moment.

“Why did she fly away in the first place?” Peridot asked. “She seemed to be getting closer to you.”

“Well, we were outside of this candy shop that had been on the parade route when I had first met her … I tried to not show I was upset because I just remembered seeing her there and … Oh no …” he whimpered. “She felt it … She felt it and it was too much for her!”

Peridot watched as Steven buried his face in his hands. Her heart broke for him.

“H-hey … we’ll find her. Don’t worry. She may even come back first. Maybe she just needs some time to think about things,” Peridot offered.

Steven sniffled and nodded sadly.

“Here’s an idea,” Peridot smiled. “Why don’t you take Jasper, Lapis, and I out tomorrow! Jasper and Lapis need to patch things up and I need to learn more about humans! That will take your mind off of things! I saw something like this on your TV and I think it will work!”

Steven nodded but Peridot knew his heart wasn’t in it. She sighed and hopped off of his bed.

“Don’t worry, Steven. I promise we will find her and get through to her,” she whispered.

Steven simply rolled over and stared out the window. He wanted to believe her, but he couldn’t.

Not now at least.

~

Greg was not surprised when he saw Pearl and Priyanka out late that night. He had only somewhat heard what had happened at the temple (something about gem experiments gone wrong), but seeing the pair outside the car wash calling out late into the night finally made him put his foot down and ask questions.

He wished he had stayed out of it now.

“So … Steven said she just took off?” Greg finally asked as they searched down an alleyway after it finally sank in fully.

“Yeah. Garnet thinks she might still be near the town. We need to find her before either she or someone else gets hurt,” Pearl sighed, her gem illuminating the streets. “Corruption can cause a gem to act erratically, as we’ve all seen. I have no idea what it’s been doing to Connie’s mind.”

Priyanka choked back a sob, thinking of her daughter. She had been horrified to learn the truth, but she still knew that her daughter was in there, somewhere. Even if she physically was not the child she raised, she was still Connie. She gripped Pearl’s hand tightly.

Pearl lightly squeezed her hand.

“It’s alright, Priya. We will find her,” Pearl smiled, reassuringly.

Greg was taken aback for a moment, seeing the two of them. Pearl had never seemed to care for a human before, but here she was, comforting Connie’s mother with a warmth he had only seen her direct at Rose.

It warmed his heart.

“Hey guys!” The group looked up to see a purple owl soar overhead. “Garnet thinks she might be somewhere else. I don’t think the humans can go on this one. Sorry, guys!”

Pearl looked sympathetically to Priyanka and Greg. Greg understood immediately.

“Come on, Dr. Maheswaran. I’ll take you home. Amethyst is right. There are some places that would just be too dangerous for us.”

Priyanka nodded in resignation before Pearl lightly grabbed her hand again.

“I’ll be back soon,” Pearl smiled before placing a kiss on Priyanka’s forehead.

With that, Pearl was gone, following Amethyst to the nearest Warp Pad.

~

She didn’t know how she even got here.

Instinct. It must be instinct.

She slinked through the canyons, looking around at the holes in the walls.

This must be the Kindergarten.

It sent a chill down her spine as she looked around. She didn’t really belong here, but she also knew she didn’t belong at the Temple. She didn’t belong at any of the places she had found herself.

She wasn’t a Crystal Gem. She wasn’t one of them.

She wasn’t even really Connie.

_How can you say that? Those were **your** memories. **You** were the one who did all of those things._

_No. I’m dead. Or she’s dead … I’m not her._

_Steven still loves you._

_He’s a fool._

She continued on, inspecting the Kindergarten for a place she could rest. No one would come here after her. She was confident of that. She had narrowly missed the gems at every location she had tried to rest in.

The time she had heard Steven call her name had nearly frozen her in her tracks. She couldn’t face him, especially. She wasn’t even safe from his cries in her dreams.

The Kindergarten seemed like the perfect place, however. It was secluded, huge, and had several holes she could safely hide in.

After all, the threats Peridot had told her about were gone now. She could stay here in peace forever if she liked.

Her peace was short-lived when she heard the tell-tale sound of the warp pad activating.

“Careful, gems,” she heard Garnet say from behind her. “This won’t be easy.”

“Come on! It’s Connie! She hasn’t acted erratically since -”

“That’s not what I mean,” Garnet sighed. “Connie?”

Connie knew Garnet was behind her but she didn’t want to turn around.

“Go away,” she hissed in Gem.

“Connie,” Garnet began, switching to Gem, “You need to come back. This isn’t where you belong.”

“Leave now …” Connie growled. She didn’t want to hear it. She couldn’t believe it.

“Steven needs you, Connie. And he can help you. I know he can,” Garnet said as she came nearer.

“I said leave!” Connie roared, flames shooting from her beak as she whipped around at the gems.

Garnet grabbed Amethyst and Pearl and leaped back from the flames.

Connie shook her head, realizing what had happened. She hadn’t meant to do it, but she had threatened the gems. She had turned on them. It would only make sense if they wanted to destroy her now.

She cowered back.

“I’m dangerous!” She hissed in Gem. “I can’t be around him! I can’t be around anyone! I’m safer here, away from you!”

Garnet stared at Connie. She could see the paths of fate twisting and intertwining. Nothing was clear now.

“Connie … Please,” she started.

“No! Just accept it! I’m not her! I never was! I’m just a jumble of memories in some false body!”

Garnet sighed as the flames died down, revealing the creature that was curled up on the ground behind them. She made her way through the flames.

“Let me at least try to help you.”

Connie looked up at her and Garnet noticed something different about the monster for the first time.

Her pupils were becoming visible.

Her eyes were becoming human again.

“Connie … please. Just let us try.”

“No,” Connie whispered. “I shouldn’t even exist. I don’t want to exist. I’ve hurt him too much.”

“Do you love him?” Garnet asked.

“What?”

“Do you love him? If you can answer that, then you know what you have to do.”

With that, Garnet rose to her feet.

“We need to get to Beach City. Something’s going to happen. You can either come with us or stay here … but know where you are truly needed, Connie.”

Garnet led the gems to the Warp Pad, leaving Connie to stare off after them.

She felt herself nearly crumble apart.

She knew the answer, of course, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it. She wasn’t the real Connie. She knew that from her memories. She knew that from her origins.

Yet she still had those same feelings. Even if she told herself that she was not the real Connie, the memories would fight back. The emotions would hit her every time she held them back. She wasn’t sure what to do now.

She wasn’t even sure who she was.

_I’m not her. I’m not human. Not anymore._

_But you still have her memories. You still have her emotions._

_That was artificial._

_But you still feel that way about him … We still feel that way._

_I still feel that way …_


	13. Chapter 13

“I don’t understand the point of this … game …”

“Simple!” Steven smiled at Jasper who sat, hunched over, inside the Road Killer machine. “You have to drive on the race track and try to hit everyone and everything! It’ll make you feel better!”

Jasper grumbled.

“Just try it!” Peridot chirped. “I’m sure you’ll have fun with it!”

Jasper smiled weakly at the green gem.

“Are you going to play as well?”

“I’m going to attempt the Cyclone game. I have come up with several calculations that will guarantee that I will receive the highest amounts of -”

“Nerd,” a voice said from behind them. Lapis leaned on one of the machines, glowering at Jasper.

“Come on, Lapis,” Steven laughed nervously. “Let’s uh … Let’s try skeeball or something! Something on the opposite side of the arcade from Jasper.”

He hadn’t thought his plan of taking the former Homeworld Gems to the arcade all of the way through. It became apparent, very quickly, that Jasper and Lapis could not be near each other at all. There was still pain and anger between the two of them.

How had he not realized this?

He knew why. He had been so preoccupied with the Cluster and with trying to heal Connie that he hadn’t really been thinking things through.

Lack of sleep didn’t help.

He was in the middle of showing Lapis the right way to throw the wooden ball when the ground rumbled.

“What was that?” Steven asked.

Lapis Froze and stared out the door of the arcade. Steven followed her eyes and watched as a large, green creature rose out of the ocean.

“L-Lapis? What’s that?”

“I think we decided it was a corrupted Emerald …” Lapis gulped. “Malachite ran into it at one point. We thought we had gotten rid of it. Apparently not.”

Peridot charged over to Steven, followed closely by Jasper.

“Holy smokes! How do we stop that thing?” Peridot shrieked.

“We need someone bigger than it,” Jasper grunted.

“S-So … Lazuli and Jasper! You can fuse and take it out! Right?”

Lapis growled and looked away. Japer sighed.

“No, Peridot,” she started. “We can’t form Malachite.”

“So … you could fuse with someone, right?”

“I don’t think I can be stable,” Jasper sighed. “I got lost last time …”

Peridot looked over at Steven. It was a long shot, but it might work.

“Steven. We need to try. At least until the other gems get here.”

Steven nodded and took Peridot’s hand.

“Just so you know, I’ve only ever done this with Connie. I don’t even know if I can fuse with gems.”

“Understood,” Peridot stated. “Shall we?”

Steven smiled sadly and the two danced, awkwardly. He looked at Peridot. He tried to feel the same sort of flutter he had when he had fused with Connie but he just couldn’t. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t pull it up at all. He was about to give up when another feeling hit him.

Peridot and the other gems were his family. And he loved them all and wanted to protect them

And this was the only way he could do it.

For a moment, they were lost in the glow.

Then they opened their eyes.

The four armed fusion had all but destroyed the ceiling of the arcade when they formed. Lapis stared up at the towering, green giant. Their hair was pink, formed into a lumpy triangle. They opened their four eyes and stared down at the pair. The swirl of emotions and confusion nearly split them at first, but they felt their component parts pull together. Jasper and Lapis stared up at them. Peridot’s uniform seemed to be covered by Steven’s star shirt and jeans. The only way they would have known for certain he was part of the fusion was in the pink gem that rested in their exposed stomach.

“How do you feel?” Jasper asked.

“I … I don’t know …” the fusion stammered. “It’s nothing like Stevonnie … I …”

_Steven … Please stop hurting! It’s hard to hold together!_

_I’m sorry! I just … I can’t do this!_

_Yes you can! We need to save the town! You can go back to feeling upset later, but right now, everyone needs us!_

The fusion blinked and looked down again.

“Are you alright?” Lapis asked.

“Y-yes … I think so …” the fusion answered, shakily. “Let’s kick this thing’s butt!”

The Emerald howled as she crashed onto the shore, pulling their focus out the window once more. The half of the fusion that was Steven mused that she looked like something from the monster dinosaur movies he had seen on TV.

“Ok. Let’s do this,” Jasper growled, summoning her helmet. “I need to help fight something that actually fights back.”

The fusion nodded and charged forward. They had one common goal and they needed to act on it. The fusion ran out onto the beach and leaped towards the monster, preparing to summon a weapon.

Then it hit them.

This wasn’t a monster. This was a corrupted gem.

This was someone who was in pain.

“No! Steven!” The fusion howled. “You can’t think like that right now! We need to subdue her!”

“But she’s in pain!”

Lapis and Japser froze, watching as the fusion started to break apart.  
“Oh shards,” Jasper cursed.

“Yeah … this is bad …” Lapis agreed.

“Please stop!” the fusion screamed at the Emerald in Gem.

She froze for a moment, considering before continuing her rampage.

“Not all of them are Connie, Steven!” the fusion growled, trying to hold together.

That was a mistake.

Peridot could feel it now. All of the pain Steven had been feeling over Connie. The love he had felt for her. The love he still felt.

The guilt he felt for feeling like he caused all of this - Connie’s death, her re-creation, her corruption - tore at her.

If she hadn’t known that emotions couldn’t hurt her gem, she would worry she was about to literally crack.

“Steven! Please!”

“I can’t!”

POP!

Steven and Peridot fell, unconscious, to the beach. Lapis and Jasper gasped and ran to catch them.

“You get Steven!” Jasper growled. “I’ll grab her!”

For once, Lapis was willing to listen to Jasper as she summoned her wings and flew to Steven. She barely caught him and safely brought the unconscious teen to the ground.

“He’s out, but alive,” Lapis called to Jasper as she cradled Peridot.

“She’ll be ok. I just don’t think we can handle this thing …” Jasper stated. “Not by ourselves …”

The ground shook once more and the pair turned to see Alexandrite storm down the beach. For the first time ever, both gems felt relief at seeing the towering fusion.

“Is Steven alright?” the fusion asked.

“Unconscious, but he’s alive …”

“Ok.” Alexandrite growled before turning her attention to the monster. “We might need backup.”

Jasper looked over at Lapis, uneasily.

“Might.”

The pair nodded as Alexandrite summoned the bow and arrow first.

SHING!

The arrow sliced into the Emerald’s arm. She growled and turned on the fusion, lashing out with claws and teeth. Alexandrite expertly dodged each attack, leaping out of the way and trying to lead her out into the water.

Alexandrite summoned Sardonyx’s hammer and raised it over her head, bringing it down on the monster before swinging around to strike her side as well.

A grin spread across her face before the monster reached up and grabbed the hammer with one hand.

“Uh oh,” Alexandrite whispered.

The monster smashed the hammer and roared before headbutting Alexandrite away.

“Argh! I can’t just sit here and let them get hurt,” Jasper finally roared, summoning her helmet and charging into battle.

“Jasper!” Lapis cried out.

“Watch Steven and Peridot. I’ll be fine.”

With that Jasper whirled away to join the fight. Lapis watched, helplessly as Jasper spun up to the monstrous Emerald. She knew Jasper couldn’t take her on by herself, but she was right. Someone needed to stay with Steven and Peridot.

Jasper used the creature’s flailing arms to leap about and deliver punches and attacks with her helmet. She grinned, about to boast about her success when a hand slapped her out of the air. She looked back to see the Emerald stare at her, as if she were a fly to be knocked away.

She closed her eyes, preparing for the final blow that never came.

She looked up as she fell towards the water to see that Alexandrite was grappling with the creature. She grinned.

“Go you rebels,” she chuckled after landing with a splash.

Alexandrite grinned back and punched the monster square in the jaw. She summoned a gauntlet and was ready to strike again when the Emerald inhaled deeply.

“Oh no,” Lapis gasped, having dealt with this creature before. “Alexandrite!” she cried out.

The Emerald breathed out a freezing mist, pushing the fusion back with a wall of ice and trapping them in it. She then turned to the beach. Lapis knew she was headed to Steven.

“Leave them alone!” she growled, trying to summon the ocean.

Peridot weakly opened her eyes and looked up, watching the scene. She looked over at the Emerald and heard it softly hiss something in Gem.

“Rose Quartz …”

Peridot’s eyes widened. She needed to help Lapis, somehow.

The Emerald bore down on Lapis and Steven, knocking Lapis out of the way with one swoop of her hand.

“Rose Quartz …”

Steven opened his eyes to see the Emerald. He could barely register what was going on until it dawned on him.

This was it.

This was how he was going to die.

He closed his eyes.

Connie. What if she came back? What would she do if she found out he was dead?

SCREEEE!

He opened his eyes again and gasped at the sight.

Behind the Emerald, like a falcon, dove Connie.

She had sensed the creature before she saw her and knew instantly that she needed to be destroyed.

When she saw that she was bearing down on Steven, the hybrid felt her blood boil in ways that she never could have imagined.

She knew who she was now. She knew how she felt.

She wasn’t just the corrupted gem.

She was Connie.

With power.

With a shriek, she dove down at the monster and raked her talons forward at the last possible second, digging scratches into its back. She hoped that, at the very least, it would distract the creature.

If she had been able to, she would have smiled when the creature played into her plan. Connie led the creature out into the water, occasionally swooping at her eyes to keep her on task. She roared, breathing fire at the monster before swooping overhead. She needed to free Alexandrite. She could distract the monster but she couldn’t take her down.

She turned and saw Alexandrite puffing out small flames from her lower mouth. Connie inhaled. She was running out of energy but she had to do it for him.

She could help if -

WHAM!

The breath slammed out of her as she was slammed out of the air by the monster. She tried to right herself but was caught in the creature’s claws. She looked up in terror. This was going to be it. She was going to be ripped apart by this beast.

She cried out as she felt the creature squeeze her tightly around her chest, claws digging in. She pecked in vain but she knew it was no use. She kicked, feebly with her back talons as the creature began to shred her wings with teet and claws. She could feel her body start to go into shock as she bled out into the creature’s hands. She weakly looked up as the corrupted Emerald raised a clawed hand to deliver a final blow. 

Connie closed her eyes.

 _I’m sorry, Steven,_ she thought to herself.

She felt herself fall to the ground suddenly, but she didn’t care. The pain and sounds were starting to fade away as she landed in the water.

She let the water carry her. She was too tired to worry anymore. She had done her best and she felt now she could die as herself.

“Connie!” a voice cried out, cutting through her haze.

~

He watched, helplessly, as Connie was nearly ripped apart by the monster. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t even scream. All he could do was watch as Connie was killed while protecting him.

The arrow that pierced the center of the creature was too late, and Steven knew it. He watched Connie’s limp form fall into the water. He didn’t care about anyone else now. He needed to get to her.

“I’ll get her,” Lapis said from behind him, holding Steven back.

He watched as Lapis flew out into the water and guided the limp body back to land. Steven knelt down and gently lifted Connie’s limp head. The bird-like face cringed in pain. Her body was nearly shredded and Steven knew that she wasn’t going to survive this.

He wasn’t even sure he could heal her.

“Connie!” he wept.

Her eyes opened and for the first time, Steven knew he was looking into Connie’s eyes once more. Her dark brown eyes locked with his and he knew that she was finally back.

“Connie,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry … I … Please don’t leave me, Connie. Please! We got so close to healing you and now …” Steven sniffled and leaned his head down to hers. “Connie, I still love you … Please don’t go …”

She weakly nuzzled his hand and looked up at him, her eyes heavy. She needed to reassure him that she was there. That she was Connie once again. That she was going to die as Connie.

~

When Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl finally made it on the beach, dragging Jasper along with them, they saw Lapis and Peridot huddled around Steven. Pearl ran to him first, wanting to make sure her adopted son was alright.

Peridot’s eyes met with hers and she shifted away, revealing Steven.

He was hunched over something, mumbling under his breath. Pearl leaned in closer but she couldn’t get him to look up at her.

As his shoulders shook, she looked down at his hands and gasped.

In his hands was a tiny, salmon colored gem.

“Connie …”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven tries to help Connie reform and then discovers the terrible truth behind his mother’s experiments. Pearlyanka becomes canon in the AU. Steven starts getting strange pains and hears a soothing song. All this and more in tonight’s installment of “Incredible”!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry that I haven’t updated this - Earthlings and the method behind Jasper’s corruption really changed where I was going and it took six months for me to fix issues that the stuff revealed in the episode caused (and by issues, I mean that Earthlings made it even more angsty and I needed to fix my outline and try to rework everything and try to both bring in and solve a big problem for more than just Connie now). Monster Reunion also had a big impact in this chapter as well as in the next one.

Steven hadn’t said much to anyone in the following days, occasionally responding to questions with a quiet “yes” or “no”. He only mumbled softly to the gem in his hands. Greg was staying at the temple now, there in case Steven needed him.

He had tried to get Steven to talk about it, but he also knew that the teen was hurting.

It wasn’t until a week after that he finally heard Steven say more than a few words.

The teen was hunched over Connie’s gem on his bed, tears rolling down his cheek, as he whispered to her. Greg sat down on the bed next to him and gently placed a hand on his back.

“She said my name, dad … In her actual voice … She said my name …”

Greg pulled Steven in close as he sobbed into his shirt. He didn’t know what to say to comfort Steven.

It was easier when Connie had first died. He knew what to say then.

What could he say when everything was uncertain now?

Peridot watched from the kitchen, her heart breaking for Steven. She had felt, first hand, what Steven had with regards to his friend and knew his pain intimately now. She wanted to try and comfort him, but she didn’t know what to say.

At first, she had been confident that Connie would reform, but the doubts came when it had been a week without any signs of regeneration.

She didn’t want to accept that Connie was gone. She had grown accustomed to sitting on the bed, talking with Connie and introducing her to things that Steven had said Connie had once liked. She had even watched throughout the week at nights as Steven had tearfully read to Connie’s Gem.

He had pulled out one book that he had explained to Peridot was the last book in the series that Connie had said she liked. She had never been able to read it, but he had purchased it after she had died, promising to read it one day. Now he had been reading it to Connie’s inert gem.

He had stopped when he reached the point where Lisa’s familiar found the spell that could turn him into a human. He couldn’t read any further.

Eventually, Greg descended the stairs and sat on the couch, having tucked Steven into bed. He slumped and buried his head in his hands.

Peridot wanted to go to him and comfort him.

But the last interaction she had with him ended with her pushing him off of a roof.

She would try later.

~

Garnet had noticed that something was off with Steven.

She knew that he was heartbroken from losing Connie once again, but this was something else.

There had been a dullness to his energy that worried her. She wondered if this emotion was putting strain on his gem. He had never been this depressed before.

She sighed before exiting her room to try and console Steven. She couldn’t tell what was going to happen now. The future was so murky.

It had been murky ever since Connie first died. When she had met Connie for the first time, she had seen a future where Connie joined Steven in protecting the Earth. A future where Connie and Steven grew old together.

A future where Connie led to Steven embracing his human side as much as he had embraced his gem side.

That future was irreparably damaged now. Everything was different. There was no way that the future she had seen would ever happen now.

There was barely a glimmer of hope that Connie would reform, much less regain her humanoid form.

As Garnet left her room, she made her way to Steven’s side.

The only thing she could do now was comfort him.

~

She was floating in nothingness.

She didn’t know where she was and was too afraid to look around. She remembered her last moments before she arrived in this endless sea of calm and was glad for the peace.

She assumed this was the afterlife.

It was nice but lonely.

Occasionally, she would feel a warmth that filled her and eased any worries she had, but that warmth was tinted with sadness. She still longed for that feeling, however. It felt safe and soothing, even with the attached sadness that came with it.

She didn’t want to leave this place when that feeling was near.

~

Pearl had invited her into her room for the first time since they had started to grow closer.

She had been slow to say anything to Priyanka, but it became an unspoken relationship. They were there to comfort each other in Priyanka’s loss. In Pearl’s fears about Steven.

In the knowledge of what happened to Connie.

When Priyanka had finally told Pearl that it was hard to return home, Pearl began to find ways to make her room more accessible to her human friend. She told herself it was just out of friendship. She didn’t want to feel like she was betraying Rose with her blossoming feelings for the human woman.

Then she had slipped and kissed Priyanka one night before the room revealed her experiment, when they had both been drinking wine to wind down.

She had worried that she had gone too far. That she had overstepped the boundaries of their relationship.

Instead, for the first time, they truly talked.

Now, as Pearl watched Priyanka make herself comfortable on one of the water columns, she found a feeling growing that she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in a long time. She didn’t even feel the feeling of fear that she was betraying Rose.

Rose would have wanted Pearl to be happy.

And she was.

“We’ll check in Rose’s Room tomorrow for any notes on the chances of regeneration,” Pearl began as she sat next to Priyanka. “I’m confident that we will be able to revive her. I’m certain that it is a case of programming -”

“Will she be herself?”

Pearl froze.

She didn’t know for certain.

“I’m not sure … Garnet noticed that Connie was seeming more human, in her eyes, when she last saw her … before the fight. And Steven mentioned that Connie’s eyes looked just like they had before she had corrupted. I want to believe that she will be able to return to her normal form,” Pearl explained. She decided to leave out the fact that Connie spoke just before her form was dissipated.

"What’s it like? Corruption?”

Pearl sighed.

She really did not want to have this talk with Priyanka. She didn’t want her to hurt any more than she already did.

But it was unavoidable.

~

Steven often felt a pain in his shoulder now. He assumed it was from sitting hunched over Connie’s gem so he would often try to change positions to find some comfort. Nothing would help, however, and so the pain in his shoulder persisted. On some nights, the pain would spread throughout his back.

If he cared more, he would try to investigate why he hurt so badly now, but all he could think about was Connie.

Why had this even happened? Why would his mother’s Room try to do something so horrifying as raise the dead?

He had been healing, slowly, from Connie’s original death, but now he had to live through knowing that she had been put through unbelievable pain. That she had been brought back to life only to die again.

No, she’s still alive. She’s just in her gem. She has to still be alive.

He repeated the mantra to himself until the pain in his shoulder became too much to bear. He rolled over onto his side with Connie’s gem held close.

His eyelids grew heavy as he tried to fight sleep.

She could reform and I wouldn’t even be awake …

As he drifted off to sleep, he thought he heard a soft song playing in his mind. A voice, not unlike his mother’s on the videos he had seen, singing in an ancient language. As the song entered his mind, the pain in his body lessened.

~

Garnet looked about the Burning Room for the bubble that contained the Topaz’s remaining shards. They were aimless now. The missing piece no longer belonged to that gem.

She was about to take the bubble to the pit of lava to dispose of them when a vision struck her.

She paused and let the bubble float back up to the ceiling.

The shards would be useful in the future.

~

He had awakened with Connie’s gem nestled next to his cheek. He stared at the translucent, pink gem shard, hoping to see some glimmer of life, but found nothing.

He was afraid to attempt dream walking. He didn’t know what he would do if he found her gem to truly be empty.

He sat up in bed and stared at the shard. He wanted to speak to her but his throat hurt from crying. He gently cradled Connie’s gem.

He barely noticed when Peridot sat down at the foot of the bed, looking down at the shard.

“Pearl is going to need to get into Rose’s Room. She said that she might be able to see if Connie will regenerate using notes your mother had on early experiments …” Peridot whispered. “I think she might need Connie’s gem though …”

Steven looked up at Peridot.

“I need to be with her. What if she comes back and I’m not there? She’ll be confused or upset! What if she lashes out?”

What if she doesn’t come back?

Peridot smiled sadly.

“I bet Pearl will let you stay for most of it … but she did say there are some things she doesn’t want you seeing yet …”

With that, Peridot made her way down the stairs, glancing back to Steven. She needed to check on Jasper now.

Meanwhile, Steven sat on the bed looking at Connie’s gem. The gem shard felt heavy in his hands as he turned it over.

The thought of trying to speak to her crossed his mind again, but he was still worried. He didn’t want to even think of truly losing her.

What did it mean for him? Would he die if he poofed as well?

A troubling thought drifted into his mind and he quickly pushed it away.

If it didn’t work for him … If he didn’t die when he was forced to retreat into his gem … He would be even worse off.

As he stared at Connie’s gem, the pain returned. He was about to massage his shoulder when the song he had heard in the night popped into his mind. He couldn’t avoid humming it. As he hummed the tune, the pain seemed to lessen. It didn’t retreat fully, but it was bearable now.

He didn’t have time to wait and think about what had happened. He felt a pull in his mind to try and see if Connie was in her gem. He had to try.

He laid down and closed his eyes, holding Connie’s gem close and hoping he would see her.

~

She opened her eyes when she heard his voice.

She didn’t expect to hear him and it frightened her at first. A part of her worried about the reason for his being there.

“Connie?”

She didn’t see him at first, but she sensed him. She could feel him all around her and felt a calmness and warmth fill her. She didn’t try to speak for a long time. She just enjoyed the sensation.

“Connie? Are you there?”

She wanted to answer, but she didn’t know for sure if she even could. She looked around, hoping to see him.

She knew he was there.

“Connie … I don’t know if you’re here but I miss you …”

She missed him too. She remembered him. She remembered everything about him.

_I wish I knew how to get to you … I miss you too …_

She wondered if he could hear her. If she knew she was there.

She wanted him to hold her close. To help her and heal her.

It wasn’t until she looked around that she realized she had no visible form now.

She wanted to cry but she couldn’t produce the tears.

_Steven … please help me …_

~

He had felt the emotion even though he didn’t hear her.

She was alive.

She was alive in her gem but something was wrong.

He felt Garnet sit down on the bed and opened his eyes, looking up at her.

“Did you see her?” Garnet asked.

“I … I felt her, but I couldn’t see her at all. It’s like she was simply a presence in my mind … Is … Is she really gone, Garnet?” Steven whimpered.

Garnet paused.

She had seen several possible futures, the more that Steven had talked to Connie’s gem. She could feel Connie’s presence in the gem but it was weak. Uncertain.

There was a chance that Connie could come back. If she did, she would be back to her normal self but the corruption would still be there, She would have to learn to control her emotions more. She would have to learn how to keep from succumbing to it.

There was also a chance that Connie would not return. The gem shard was not whole. It was only a small remnant of a gem now. Something manufactured in a process not unlike repurposing a shattered gem.

The other shards were present, but they couldn’t make the gem whole anymore. This could be what was stopping Connie.

Then Garnet had a thought. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized this before.

“Steven … she doesn’t know how to reform …”

“What?”

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of that! She’s still human. She doesn’t have the innate knowledge of a gem with regards to reforming,” Garnet continued. “We need to teach her, somehow …”

“Can you enter her dreams?”

“No … that seems to only be an ability that you and Rose share. You will need to tell her how to do it. You’ll have to guide her.”

“But I don’t even know how!” Steven cried. “I don’t even know if I could! Or if she could …”

Garnet smiled and hugged him tightly.

“I can tell you how. You will need to know how to do it as well, anyway. If anything were to ever happen to you …”

Garnet let the thought hang in the air between them. Steven understood, but a part of him was aching so badly now that he almost didn’t care what happened.

He just wanted Connie back.

The door to the temple opened and Pearl and Priyanka stepped through.

“Steven?” Pearl asked. “Can you come down for a moment? Bring Connie’s gem with you …”

Steven nodded and looked up at Garnet once more before grabbing Connie’s gem and taking her down the stairs. He took a deep breath, standing between Priyanka and Pearl, before he opened the door to his mother’s room.

~

She felt his presence again and tried to find him.

She knew he was there, but she couldn’t properly see him now. She tried to call his name again, but there wasn’t anything to direct the sound.

She soon remembered something she had heard Steven mention once.

Gems were made of light.

Maybe she was made of light too.

She wasn’t sure how she had done it, but she noticed that everything around her was much brighter. It was as if she was a beacon in the vast expanse that surrounded her.

“Connie?”

She soon found Steven running towards her. She wondered how he had made it in to her.

“Connie! How did you … It’s like looking into the sun!” He chirped. “Not in a bad way,” he added.

She wanted to speak to him, but she was still unsure of how to do it.

“You … you can’t talk,” Steven whispered, defeated. “Do you know that I’m even here?”

Connie wanted to tell him that she could see him. She wanted to tell him she could feel his presence with her and that it was the only thing keeping her going.

No words would form.

“I … I’m trying to find out how to get you back, Connie. The room isn’t giving me anything and I think they’re all hiding something from me … But I will help you, Connie. I promise.”

She wanted to reassure him. She wanted to hold tightly onto him and tell him she was thankful that he was even trying to help her.

When she felt his presence fade, she wanted to weep.

She was alone again.

Lost and alone.

~

He shouldn’t have sneaked in, but he needed to find out what was being hidden from him. He found it hard to believe that the Room really didn’t have any definitive answers regarding the state of Connie in her gem.

As he walked into the Room, he could feel a chill creep down his spine. He looked around, searching for Connie’s gem.

Seeing the amorphous blob of light that had to be Connie when he was dream walking had pushed him further into the goal of figuring out what was really happening. He soon found her gem, still suspended in the room.

“Room … I need to know what happened in the human hybrid experiments. As Rose Quartz … I need to know …”

He could feel the tension in the room as it seemed to fight with it’s own programming.

When it relented, he could feel his stomach lurch as he watched the footage. He had known that the gems were once responsible for horrific atrocities.

He didn’t want to believe that his mother had been a part of it.

When he watched the final experiment, his heart sank.

The human in the experiment reminded him of Connie.

This could have happened to her.

It did happen to her.

When Steven returned out of Rose’s Room, Garnet was the first to see him. She watched as he pushed past her holding Connie’s gem close, tears streaming down his cheeks. She hadn’t looked into the future to see what he would learn in the room, but as she watched him run out the door, she wished she had.

Before she turned to try and get the other gems, she felt a chill run down her spine. She should have seen the possibility of something like this happening, but she had been so distracted.

She thought she had seen something protruding from Steven’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 15 will be up a LOT sooner and it’s almost to where I like it, though Chapter 16 will have to wait until after Steven Bomb 6 airs because it WILL have spoilers for it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor, poor Steven ...

When he had asked Vidalia the next morning if he could stay for the next few days, she had grown suspicious but accepted. It was impossible for her to call the gems, seeing as she didn't have the phone number for the Temple, but she figured she could eventually get what was bothering him out of him.

Onion, oddly enough, had been more of a comfort to Steven than even Sour Cream. The quiet boy had eagerly offered to let Steven hang out in his "G.U.Y.S. Room" whenever he needed to be alone (which was often) and didn't even seem to try to ask about the gem in Steven's hands. He simply let Steven cry to him when he needed to, listening as Steven asked, repeatedly, why the Gems had lied to him.

Steven hadn't visited Connie in his dreams for a couple nights. He was too upset with his Gem side to want to do anything involving it. It wasn't until his third night at Onion's house that he found himself being pulled into the familiar realm of Connie's gem.

He found himself staring at the amorphous blob of light that was trying to take shape, attempting to figure out what she was supposed to look like.

He felt his heart break. Even with his anger at the gems, he wanted to help her.

"Connie? I ... I don't know how to help you, but I'm going to try ..."

He walked over to the light and pressed his hands against it, noticing that it felt like the hardlight holograms of the gems, somewhat. The moment he touched her, memories flooded in of everything he loved about Connie. Her smile, her laugh ... her soft, dark brown hair, her dark skin ... the warm, inviting eyes that always seemed to sparkle more when he was around.

He felt something different in that moment. He could feel something wrap around him.

He looked up and could see the light trying to take shape.

It wasn't perfect, but the light seemed to sprout two arms that wrapped around him tightly, enveloping him.

She was coming back.

  
He stayed with her for a while, trying to coach her on changing her appearance. He could see the blob of light try to take on a human shape. He knew he needed to wake up soon but he didn’t want to right now.

He had Connie.

~

Greg couldn't believe it.

He was a millionaire.

He wanted to share the news with Steven, certain that it would lift the boy's spirits.

Then he found out Steven was not at the Temple.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Greg cried out.

"Steven was in his mother's room and saw ... something," Garnet said, turning her attention to Pearl who had not rested since Steven left. "He's alright, but we are the last people he needs to see right now."

"What do you mean?" Greg growled. "What did he see?"

Pearl sighed. She looked up at Greg, not wanting to shatter his idea of Rose, but she couldn't hide it any longer.

"He found out some of the truth about Rose ... before the rebellion ..." Pearl sighed. "She started this experiment ..."

Greg stood, shocked. Pearl looked away, not wanting to see his face.

Then she felt his arms wrap tightly around her and she finally released the emotions that were weighing her down. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wept, bitterly. Greg patted her on the back, softly.

He wasn't about to ask for details, but he found himself agreeing with the gems.

Anything that reminded Steven of Rose would hurt him even more.

~

She had arms.

She had arms and he could see her.

She wanted to form. She wanted to get out.

It was so cramped. She wanted escape.

To fly away-

That seemed wrong.

She couldn't tell why, but that seemed like the wrong thought.

No matter how hard she tried to block it out, it screamed at her as she tried to focus on reforming.

~

He had been enjoying the company of Sour Cream, Vidalia, and Onion, happy to have someone to talk to about something other than Gem matters. He enjoyed listening to Sour Cream's mixtapes and even found he had something new to talk about when he was with Onion. Onion regaled him with tales of his friends who visited for the summer and promised him that one day they would all play in the woods outside of the city. It had made Steven forget about the pain in his shoulder and the strange lump that had formed there. He almost went home one night to ask about it, but decided that it might just be his gem reacting to the stress of losing Connie again.

It would be over soon, though. Connie would come back. She had to

At nights, he would return to his vigil over Connie's gem. He had given up on the idea of her reforming without his presence in the room, but every night, he would try to find her in his dreams.

Now, he could find her easily, and he had almost encouraged her into a humanoid form on several occasions. He still could not get her to form anything but a mannequin of light, however.

On his fifth night with Vidalia's family, after he had drifted off to sleep, Steven found himself on his hands and knees in front of the amorphous blob that was Connie. He watched as the light finally took shape into the light mannequin that he recognized after having seen many gems reform. The form twisted in front of him for a moment and then regained the more humanoid shape before landing on the ground, continuing to try and choose a physical form.

"Connie?" Steven asked.

Her shoulders shook.

"Connie, are you OK?"

He gasped as she turned around. He could barely see her eyes, but her face was still wrong. A beak was still in place of her mouth and nose, however it seemed that it had become smaller. Her arms were still longer than they had been when she as human and it looked as if they were still slightly formed into wings.

She didn't completely look like her, but she was reforming, slowly.

He sat down in front of her.

"Connie ... you're doing so much better ... You're starting to look like you again!"

Connie's eyes met his and she trilled softly.

Steven's heart nearly broke.

She still couldn't speak to him.

He reminded himself that this might take time.

"I promise, Connie, I will get you out of here. And you'll be yourself again ..."

 _We'll be together again,_ he thought to himself.

Connie chirped, but he could tell she was frustrated that she couldn't speak either.

A loud noise suddenly jolted him away from Connie and back to reality. He felt a pull to grab Connie's gem and held her close to himself as he crawled through the vents to Onion's room. When he pushed his way into Onion's room, the loud noise repeated.

It almost sounded like a ship.

A Gem ship.

Steven ran out of the house as fast as he could, Connie's gem still clutched tightly to his chest.

He needed to get back to the temple and protect his family.

~

Jasper instantly knew that the ship was for her. She felt a twinge of regret as she briefly wondered if this was how the Crystal Gems had felt, but she pushed it down and started out the door.

Peridot pulled her back, tears in her eyes.

"No! You can't go out there! They will shatter you!" She cried out.

"I need to. They aren't here for any of you. If I go, they'll leave you all alone," Jasper sighed. "Besides, I can no longer serve my Diamond, so this is for the best."

Garnet blocked the way next.

"No, Jasper. We can't let you go out there. We don't want you to ... It is best if you stay in here and let us handle it."

Jasper growled.

"Let me through. You don't need Yellow Diamond and the rest of Homeworld coming back to earth to finish what she started. If I don't go, then they won't be distracted enough to not see that the cluster has not gone off. They'll know that you are here if you go out. They won't if I do."

Garnet tried to reason with the quartz some more but was easily pushed aside as Jasper made her way to the door. Not even Pearl or Amethyst could stop her.

Lapis felt conflicted as she watched Jasper slam the door open.

On the one hand, she wouldn't be heartbroken to see the gem go. Even if they had finally worked together to help Steven, she still didn't trust her.

But she also didn't trust herself. She still didn't trust the Crystal gems either and sometimes, she wondered if she could get her former status back if she found a way to get back home.

But Homeworld wasn't home any more either.

Jasper was out the before Lapis could say anything. The gems watched as the ship landed on he beach and a squadron of Rubies appeared. The moment they saw Jasper, they bowed, much to the surprise of the gems waiting inside the beach house.

“Jasper!” One Ruby stated, her one eye opened wide in excitement. “I’m so glad we were able to find you! When I heard the mission was to find you … well … I’ve heard all about all of your victories and how you were able to take out eighty Crystal Gems when you first emerged! You’re a legend amongst all of us.”

Jasper cringed a little. She didn’t feel she was worthy of this praise. She had failed in her mission.

She had failed her Diamond.

“Yellow Diamond sent us for you. She needed her most valued soldier back on Homeworld.”

“No,” Jasper stated.

“What?”

“I’m staying here. I know that she wants me back but I’m not done here. I have prisoners and I have unfinished business with them,” Jasper started.

Steven approached the beach, Connie’s gem still clutched to his chest. He saw the ship and ducked behind one of the crumbling hands on the beach. He couldn’t let the Rubies see him.

“Ah. Are you going to go and honor your original Diamond?” The Ruby with the gem on her chest asked.

“Yes. I need to honor Pink Diamond,” Jasper started. “She was shattered here …”

“Wait … Do you have the traitorous Crystal Gems as your prisoner?” the first Ruby spoke. “I’d like to crush them into dust myself over what their leader did to our Diamond.”

Jasper cringed again. She hoped that the Crystal Gems weren’t listening in.

She did yet not know that Steven was.

“I need to send a message to Yellow Diamond and let her know I’m staying,” Jasper started. As she looked behind her, she saw Steven and nearly gasped in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening to the hybrid who saved her life. She instantly knew what needed to be done and began to formulate a plan. “We need to go to Pink Diamond’s facility. I can talk to Yellow Diamond from the communicators there and pay homage to my Diamond before I return to Earth.”

“Understood,” the first Ruby complied. “Alright, move out! We’ll have you back in two cycles at the latest,” she nodded.

“Make it one,” Jasper growled, trying to hide the fear as she looked back at Steven.

She didn’t know he had been there. If she had, she would never had said anything. As she watched him grasp at the ground, she began to fear that there wouldn’t be enough time.

There needed to be. Pink Diamond’s facility had the only cure for corruption.

She just hoped she would be able to sneak her out.

~

Steven’s cry of pain alerted the gems to his location. Pearl was the first one out the door, tearing out onto the beach. When she saw Steven, she froze in her tracks.

The teen was hunched over in pain, grasping at the sand, as pink spikes began to grow from his back. He looked up at Pearl, tears in his eyes.

“Pearl? What’s happening to me?” he whimpered as horns began to grow out of the sides of his head.

“Steven …” Pearl whispered, her heart ripping in half.

“Pearl! What happ- No …” Garnet whispered as she joined them, seeing all of the worst possible futures coming true. “We … we need to take him to Rose’s fountain, now,” Garnet commanded.

“What? But her tears never worked before!” Pearl cried out.

“We have to try!” The Fusion cried as she lifted Steven off of the ground, carefully. She looked down and saw Connie’s shard on the beach.

“Connie …” Steven whimpered. “I can’t leave her …”

“Pearl, grab Connie’s shard. We’ll take her with us,” Garnet started. “At the very least, Steven will be more comfortable.”

Pearl nodded and grabbed Connie’s shard as the pair ran inside. When Amethyst saw them, she instantly paled.

“No …”

“We need to get him to Rose’s Fountain,” Garnet said as she hopped on the warp pad. “There might be a chance we can slow it down. I can’t believe I didn’t see this happening.”

Lapis and Peridot moved to join them on the Warp Pad and Garnet stopped them.

“No. You need to let Jasper know where we are. She’ll be back soon,” Garnet stated before they warped away.

Peridot and Lapis were left alone in the Beach House. They stared at the Warp Pad momentarily before turning to each other.

“What do we do now?” Peridot asked.

“We’ll have to wait and see if Jasper comes back,” Lapis sighed.

“What do you mean, ‘If’?” Peridot glared.

“Come on, Peridot. She’s Jasper. She’s just going to go back to Yellow Diamond and report us.”

“You don’t know that!” Peridot yelled. “She wouldn’t betray me … us like that!”

Lapis smirked.

“She’s still from Homeworld.”

“We’re both from Homeworld,” Peridot sniped back. “She has no reason to betray us. She would have to reveal what she did as well. And she never would. She may have a death wish sometimes, but she’s not going to do that.”

Lapis chuckled, bitterly.

“You don’t know what went on under the ocean.”

“You don’t know what she has said in the last few weeks,” Peridot shot back. “You don’t know how much she regrets every action. You don’t know what she’s been telling herself. You don’t know what it’s like to lose your Diamond!”

Lapis glared at Peridot and the green gem’s mouth snapped shut.

The blue gem simply walked out the door and lifted off into the sky leaving Peridot to watch helplessly.

“Shards,” Peridot cursed under her breath.

~

Steven found himself humming again, in hopes that the pain would lessen. He received some relief, but not enough. It was too painful to exist.

He could barely hear the other Gems talking, but he could pick up just enough.

He was corrupting.

He could hear Garnet weeping, Amethyst arguing with Pearl, so much noise.

Why wouldn’t they stop?

He felt Connie’s shard in his hand and clutched it tight.

She was still there.

Pain erupted as something blocked his vision. He could feel something erupting out of his eyes. He grabbed at his face and felt horns protruding. Was this how he was going to look forever? How would he even be able to see? He cried out for help as he felt his body twist and mangle.

 _Please … Help me …_ He thought, weakly.

He grasped for the shreds of his humanity as he was plunged into the fountain.

~

Garnet watched as the pink and brown, curly fur receded from Steven’s body. Perhaps this could slow the progression long enough for them to figure out a plan. She had a slight glimmer of home when Jasper left. Jasper would be back and then Steven would be saved. She wasn’t sure how, but almost every future pointed to him somehow being healed.

The only one that didn’t involved the Rubies catching onto whatever Jasper’s plan was.

She doubted that was possible.

Pearl fretted over Steven who hummed a tune absentmindedly. She wondered how much he was aware of. She gently mopped his head with her hand, making sure that the tears that flowed from the fountain got onto the horns that were now protruding from his eyes. She hoped that his eyes weren’t permanently damaged.

Amethyst was uncharacteristically silent now. She watched Steven grit his teeth and groan in pain in between humming. She wanted to yell or scream or blame someone, but she was too tired now. And there was no one left to blame.

Steven couldn’t control his fusion and he had been so happy when Connie was supposedly back.

The Room couldn’t be blamed. It was just doing it’s job.

Connie and her father couldn’t be blamed. Connie’s father was dead and Connie …

She was innocent in all of this. She didn’t want to have this happen. She wasn’t asked. She wasn’t asked to be made.

Amethyst felt a twinge of pain. If Connie came back, she would at least have someone to commiserate with.

Steven was in the fountain for two days. In the afternoon of the first day, the gems hoisted him out when they thought the corruption was almost gone, only for Steven to cry out in pain and begin to corrupt again. When he was placed in the water, his cries died down and returned to the mindless humming. Pearl returned to mopping his forehead while Garnet tried to hold herself together.

Amethyst stationed herself at the Warp Pad.

As the sun set on the second day, the Warp Pad activated.

The gems turned to the Warp pad and watched as Jasper appeared.

She was not alone.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [I'm Sorry, I Just Can't](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6917965) by [CoreyWW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW)




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